Falling from the Path
by Illithya Freimann
Summary: Eli Potts finds herself in a precarious situation. Although, it hasn't been the first time she has put herself in danger, but this time she is no longer a mutant and she falls victim to something a little more abstract. She is unsure of if she should side with her only family or the stranger she has fallen in love with. Perhaps she should have just listened to Tony. An OC story.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Stan Lee and associated artists, writers and movie productions own the Avengers and associated content. This story is for entertainment value only, and in no way will the writer of this fanfiction get money for writing this story.

Warning: This fanfiction will include themes not suitable for minors. Including, but not limited to, gay sexual themes, heterosexual themes, violence, torture, swearing, blood, gore and other adult themes. Please note, that this fiction may not include these as well, and before each chapter there will be a list of warnings.

Full Summary: Eli Potts finds herself in a precarious situation. Although, it hasn't been the first time she has put herself in danger, but this time she is no longer a mutant and she falls victim to something a little more abstract. She is unsure of if she should side with her only family or the stranger she has fallen in love with. Perhaps she should have just listened to Tony when she had the chance. All she knew for sure was that Stuttgart changed her life.

Chapter 1:

"Tony, I know that Jarvis is a huge part of our lives, but I don't like having a male artificial intelligent program in my room. No offense Jarvis. It's just that it feels like I'm being watched by a pervert." Eli said to the AI. "Look, all I'm saying is install Jarvette into my room and my room only." Eli walked away from Tony into the kitchen. Tony followed close after her.

"Jarvis is not a pervert, and I don't like anything that I didn't create in my house." Tony said.

"Well, I don't like half of the things you create, and Jarvette was based off the technology that you created. That makes her at most twenty-three percent your tech." Eli said off handedly. "Oh, don't worry Jarvis, you are still my favorite."

"Of course, Miss Eli," Jarvis said over the intercoms.

"If she is based off my tech that means she is my tech and I demand that you hand her programming over to me immediately." Tony said in a matter of fact tone. Eli scoffed at Tony.

"That would be like me asking you if I could borrow Jarvis for a day. What would you do with Jarvette; Study historical theory or break mutant genetic codes?" Eli poured herself a class of Green Machine, which Tony took from her before she could stop him. "Tony, you know that Jarvette was created to help me with my research, both biological and historical. She can't do the things that Jarvis can, but she is vital to my mental stability."

"I'm glad you think so highly of me Miss Eli," Jarvette said over the intercom.

"I knew it!" Tony yelled, pointing at Eli. "You, little missy, were going to ask to upload Jarvette into your research labs weren't you. And how is Jarvette using the intercoms?"

"Of course I was going to ask, but now I'm going to demand it!" Eli put her hands on her hips defensively. "Look Tony, I am very close to making suitable inhibitors for mutants. This will help mutants all over the planet control their abilities. Jarvette is the only person, besides myself, that I trust with that information. I need Jarvette in a position where she can be present for my experiments and record data."

"Why can't you just use Jarvis? He is more suitable than Jarvette for the things you need, and besides, I made him. And what is so important about a drug that you know works?"

"What is the point of improving the Ironman suit? Or having a database, in Jarvis, that is separate from the databases at Stark Industries?"

Tony and Eli were staring each other down when Pepper walked in. Neither of the dark haired geniuses noticed that she had entered the room. Which suited the redhead perfectly. She didn't want to get caught in the middle of an argument between the two of them. Their egos were always clashing.

"I don't know why or how Jarvette is using the intercoms, but it isn't my fault." Eli said stubbornly. "The last time I checked there are only two people who have access to the Towers systems…"

Both Tony and Eli looked at Pepper. Pepper was currently sipping on a cup of coffee and reading the days paper. Tony cleared his throat, and Eli stole back her glass of Green Machine. Pepper looked at the pair innocently and shrugged her shoulders.

"Good morning, Pepper. Did you plan on telling us that you added Jarvette to the Tower's systems?" Eli asked.

"I didn't add her to the system. There is a program that allows Jarvette into the Tower's system in specific rooms only when you are in the building. A message is sent to both myself and Tony whenever you are in the building. That and should anything happen to Jarvis, Jarvette will act as a backup and will restart his programming." Pepper explained.

"Wait, what do you mean 'If something should happen to Jarvis'? And that is like stalking Pepper." Eli said.

"Nothing will ever happen to Jarvis, the guy is like the artificial intelligence version of a tank." Tony said offended.

"How often is Jarvis' attention focused on you Tony? Jarvis can't worry about the Tower while you are out fighting…crime" Pepper said in her best reprimanding tone. "Besides, right now, Jarvette will only operate while Eli is here. So you still have a lot of control over the Tower, and Eli will have Jarvette to help her with her work."

Eli stuck her tongue out at Tony and started to make eggs. Tony dumped seasonings that Eli didn't like into the pan. It made the entire kitchen smell and the three occupants of Stark Tower had to leave the room. Eli and Tony argued the entire way to the living room.

"All I'm saying is that an amateur's tech is always going to be worse than an expert's. Jarvette couldn't compete with Jarvis on his worse day. Which is never, by the way." Tony said arrogantly.

"Tony, Jarvette processes entire genomes in a matter of seconds and is able to locate irregularities that are normally overlooked with accuracy that is unheard of. She is also the best historical archive in the entire world. Jarvette was created for biological and historical purposes. I'm not saying that Jarvette is better than Jarvis; I'm saying that she is better suited for what I do than Jarvis. And do you really want to share Jarvis? Or is this about me keeping secrets again?" Eli was speaking at speeds that would make an auctioneer's head spin.

"I refuse to acknowledge that Jarvette is any better than Jarvis or any of my tech in any way." Tony said with finality. Eli shook her head with frustration.

"That is it. Pepper, I have to pack, then I'm going to head to the airport. If I have enough time do you want to get lunch?" Eli said ignoring Tony.

"Sorry Eli, Tony and I are going to launch the arc reactor today. I can't go to lunch," Tony threw a smug look at Eli, "but I can help you pack and make you breakfast."

Eli threw a smug look back at Tony. Eli then left to her room to pack. She knew that Tony and Pepper were going to have words over this. But neither she nor Tony could deny that Pepper was right. Jarvis needed to be with Tony when he was in danger instead of babysitting a Tower.

"Jarvette, what dress should I wear to the dinner party?" Eli asked as she opened her closet. Jarvette created a miniature hologram of Eli and was going through her many dresses.

"You should go with the backless black one you had made," Pepper said from the doorway. "It's very pretty."

"Well, of course it's pretty, I designed it." Eli said happily.

"You and Tony are so much alike," Pepper laughed. Eli pulled a face at being compared to the techmeister. "Really though, the black one will look the best. What is the party for, again?"

"Herr Doktor Heinrich Schafer has invited several geologist and historians, and some of his rich friends," Eli said with amusement, "to a museum for a presentation on a rare metal he has found. He thinks it was used during World War II, but in actuality the metal is worth almost 1.6 million dollars. I think he is just showing off.

"He's having a dinner party for a piece of metal that he isn't even sure was used in the second World War. But, if it does have some value, I'll be sure to study it…The black dress it is."

"What is the metal?" Pepper asked.

"Iridium, the metal is usually found on asteroids and rarely forms naturally on Earth. I'm not sure what he thinks it was being used for in 1944, but I've had Jarvette to look for any relevant information on iridium surrounding those dates."

"I wonder where he found it," Pepper said off handedly. "Wear the Hollies. They show off your ankles."

Eli looked at the black heels that were in her hands, and couldn't help but think that Pepper had great taste. Pepper and Eli packed quickly and efficiently, all in Pepper fashion.

"Hey, when I get back, we need to talk dresses. Do you know what you're thinking yet?" Eli asked Pepper.

"I have, and by the way, I'm thinking a soft yellow for bride's mate dresses." Pepper smiled.

"Ew," Eli said in disgust, "yellow is the worst color in the world."

"I happen to like the color yellow, and it's more of an off white, cream color." Pepper laughed.

"Well, we'll talk about it later. I'm having Happy take me to the airport…" Eli looked at her watched and then made a panicked face. "I have to skip breakfast, I forgot that I have to pick up a diary from the Historical Society. I'll see you in a few days."

Eli hugged Pepper at the elevator and Tony walked up.

"Leaving so soon?" Tony said, eating an apple. "Finally some peace and quiet." Eli stole the apple and took a large bite out of it.

"Yep, and by the way, Tony, you are uninvited to my recital." Eli said before the elevator doors closed.


	2. Chapter 2

No Warnings

Chapter 2:

"Jarvette, I need a scanner. The pages are in good shape, but I need it in a format that I can mark up…" Eli said with mild interest. The diary turned out to be from a German scientist who was convinced there was legendary power to be found in Norway. It certainly was fascinating. Something about a cube.

"How much longer until arrival?" Eli asked.

"Approximately a half hour," Jarvette answered. "Is there anything that you need for the diary, Miss?"

"I need a search on a Doktor Ulrich Von Wolfgang. I haven't heard of him before and the diary doesn't say much about him personally. I want everything there is to know about him." Eli said while placing the diary back into her briefcase. "A source of unlimited energy in the middle of nowhere…If Wolfgang is correct, then the world is about to change exponentially."

"Miss, we will be arriving at the hotel shortly. Do you want me to call Miss Potts?" Jarvette asked. Eli looked at her watch, it would surely be late in America.

"Please, if I'm lucky I'll get to bug Tony," Eli said happily. "Be sure to put it on speaker." Eli listened to the phone ring. She was immediately sent to voicemail.

"Tony, don't play with Pepper's phone. Pepper, I'm in Stuttgart right now and I am arriving at the hotel. I wanted to let you know and to see if I could bother Tony. Tell me how the Tower takes the arc reactor. Lots of love." Eli said to the phone annoyed. The brunette was silently wishing that Tony would go bald in the next twenty seconds.

"Miss, I suggest that you get some rest before the party tonight," Jarvette said.

"Yeah, yeah I know," Eli yawned. "I'm going to set up the scanner first. So the diary will be in your archives. I want to look it over later."

The phone rang, not when Eli was setting up the scanner, not when she changed into something to sleep in, but when she was nearly asleep. Eli glared at her phone, mentally blaming Tony.

"Hello," Eli said groggily.

"Hi, Eli, sorry I woke you up. I just got your call." Pepper's voice sounded a little shaky.

"Oh, yeah. So, how did the arc reactor work?" Eli asked wondering if she should ask if something was wrong.

"It worked wonderfully, and it will be all over the news by tomorrow morning." Pepper's voice was still a little shaky.

"That's wonderful, so tell me what happened." Eli wasn't going to tip-toe around this time. Pepper was starting to sound a little worried.

"Phil came over-" Eli cut off Pepper before she could finish.

"And I missed him! I'm going to punch him in the face when I see him next! Visiting and not telling me! I would have cancelled the trip!" Eli ranted.

"It was an unexpected visit. He seems a little shaken up by something. He even gave Tony homework…" Eli could hear the worry in Pepper's voice now.

"I thought that official consultation hours were between eight and five every other Thursday," Eli tried to appeal to Pepper's humor. It worked. Pepper was laughing very hard.

"Tony said the same thing!" Pepper gasped. "Well, I want you to be careful, okay. Things that worry Phil are probably pretty horrible. Be safe."

"You too, Pepper." Eli yawned. "I'll see you in a few days."

Eli was asleep on before she heard Pepper say goodbye.

"Hair up or down?" Eli asked her AI companion. "Up."

"Miss Eli, if you don't hurry you'll be late," Jarvette said from Eli's watch.

"I know, but I needed sleep. I am almost done…" Elis said while twisting her hair up and securing it. "Is the driver even downstairs yet?"

"He arrived forty-five seconds ago," was the answer.

"I'm leaving now," Eli said heading out the door. The drive to the museum was short. Eli admired the architecture. Eli took in the night air and smiled. Tonight was going to be a good night.

"Hallo, Frau Potts, wie gehts dir?" Doctor Schafer said from behind. "Was your trip was nice?"

"Hallo, Doktor Schafer, mir gehts sehr gut, und, bitte, Sie rufen mich Eli." Eli spoke in German. "It was a long trip, but I'm sure it was well worth it. I am fascinated by your theory of the use of this metal during the second World War. I can hardly wait for your presentation."

"Your German ist very gut," Doctor Schafer praised. "Your accent ist perfekt. I really hope that you enjoy the Präsentation. I know that as a fellow historian you will be very pleased with my findings."

The doctor left to speak with other guests. Eli made rounds as well. She looked through the photographs of Schafer's findings and some of the journal entries on it as well. Based on the journals there was no evidence that iridium was ever used for anything during World War II. Eli was disappointed that there was no connection between the two, but then Eli thought that must be what Schafer wants to do his big presentation on.

Eli looked at her watch and sighed in frustration. It wouldn't be for another half hour until Schafer actually started his presentation. The brunette was already bored and she was only at the party for maybe twenty minutes. At least she could enjoy the music. It was soft and soothing. Just what she needed. More people started to fill the museum.

Fifteen more minutes to go, was what Eli was thinking when Jarvette told her that Tony was calling her. Eli touched her earring that doubled as a headphone and activated it.

"Tony, ready to apologize yet?" Eli asked.

"Eli, listen to me very carefully. You need to leave the party right now. I'm on my way. It is too dangerous there." Tony was yelling into the receiver.

"Tony, stop yelling. I can't hear you properly." Eli left the building to try and get a better sound. She went into the parking lot. "Tony, what are you trying to say?"

"Leave the museum, right now! If I get there and you are in the area you are grounded!" Tony was yelling.

"Uh, first, you can't ground me. I'm what, twenty-three now? Second, I am going find out what Schafer has found in his research. And third, what the hell is going on?" Eli said angrily. She looked at her watch and didn't allow Tony to answer her. "Sorry, but I have to get back in there. Schafer is going to start his presentation soon. I'll see you soon. And trust me, I'll be safe."

Eli ended the call and started to head back over to the museum. She was really annoyed by Tony's over protectiveness. She had been to Germany several times before without any supervision. A car sped past Eli, which made her even more annoyed.

The small girl was waiting for the traffic to slow when a man just walked out into the traffic. Panickingly Eli grabbed the man by his arm and pulled him onto the sidewalk as a car whizzed by them.

The dark haired man looked from his arm to Eli. He looked bewildered, as if he was touched by a bug. This didn't help Eli's mood. So, Eli looked angrily at him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't feel like getting blood all over my dress and shoes." Eli then looked both ways and crossed the street without looking at the man again. She didn't notice how her hands tingled until she was inside the museum again. Eli decided that it was because she was angry. It was then when she realized how attractive the man had been. She had been too angry to notice then, but now she was thinking on the event.

Eli started laughing. She had just saved a man from being crushed by a car and promptly told him off after that, and the poor man probably didn't even speak English. Tonight was just not her night.


	3. Chapter 3

Warnings: References to violence.

Chapter 3:

Eli entered the grand room and made her way to the microphone at the base of the staircase. The room was now crowded. Eli scanned the crowd for anyone suspicious. She may have been angry with Tony, but she wasn't stupid enough to completely ignore his warnings.

No one seemed to be up to anything. There was a sense of calm in the room, like before a storm. Schafer took to the microphone. Eli would have paid attention, but someone on the balcony looking over the hall distracted her. Well his cane was what distracted her.

It was the man that she had pulled away from traffic not five minutes earlier. Eli couldn't quite make out his features, but she could see that he had a cane that glowed blue at the top. The light fascinated Eli, but more importantly it reminded her of the readings she had come across about weapons used in World War II.

Eli watched the man gracefully saunter down the staircase. She could now see that he was wearing a black suit and a green patterned scarf. Eli determined that his hair color was black and that he was tall, and that he was even more attractive in the light.

The man flipped his cane so he was holding the small end. Eli had to hold back the urge to laugh when the man hit Schafer's body guard with the bulk end of the cane. Eli was impressed that the man was able to knock the guard off of his feet.

The dark haired man pulled Schafer to the center of the hall. All of the people there parted for him like the Red Sea did for Moses. Again Eli was impressed by this mystery man's strength when he flipped Schafer onto the bull marble bed with one hand. The mystery man then pulled out what looked like a knife. Eli moved through the crowd to get a better look at what was in his hand.

Eli had reached the front of the crowd when the man stabbed Schafer in the eye. Schafer let out a loud yell and began twitching on the bed of marble. People scrambled away in shrieks of terror. Eli was almost knocked over by the people around her.

Eli looked back at the mystery man to see that he was smiling. Eli gave out an amused huff. He got what he wanted, terror and chaos. He began to walk away from Schafer, and Eli took it as her chance to see if he was alright and to inspect the knife.

"Schafer, can you hear me?" Eli said while examining the device. The inner parts were glowing blue. Schafer gave out a groan. "Schafer, können Sie mich hören?"

Eli tried to find a way to turn off the devices power. When she did the device freed itself from Schafer's face. His left eye looked like it was burned out of h is face. Schafer groaned again. Eli turned to the man who was almost out of the building. Eli was briefly reminded of the times when she was completely mutant and the many that tried to cause chaos. In moment of nostalgia, Eli took off her shoe and threw it at the mystery man. The shoe hit him in the back of the helmet that he now wore on his head.

"I hate to say this," Eli said as she slipped of her other shoe, "but I can't let you walk away from this."

The man turned around and pointed the cane turned scepter at Eli. The small girl watched as light built up in the end of the scepter. It discharged at Eli. Eli was just barely able to dodge the beam of light with a roll. Eli fluidly came out of the roll and started to run at the man. The scepter charged back up, but before it could fire a clean shot Eli threw her other shoe at the scepter. Her shoe disintegrated, but it gave Eli the time she needed to reach the man.

He swung the scepter around and Eli ducked to avoid it. Using her agility she did a spinning back jump kick to the man's jaw. The kick connected, but the man took it without even batting an eye. Eli spun again, this time concentrating her breathing to allow maximum oxygen flow to her muscles. She brought her elbow across his face and then back fisted him.

Again the mystery man seemed completely unfazed by her strikes. Before Eli could even try to hit the man again, he punched her in the stomach sending her back several feet. Eli choked for a second from the air being knocked out of her. In that time the man aimed the scepter at her and fired. The beam of light connected with Eli's stomach.

Eli was thrown even farther back. Eli could feel all of the air leave her body. She couldn't even move. She just couldn't take a breath. Eli started to panic and struggled to take a breath. She briefly wondered if that was what asthmatics felt when they couldn't breath. Suddenly, her watch sent an electric shock up her arm.

Eli took in a much needed gulp of air. She then felt around her stomach and was surprised that she could feel skin. Her dress was made of a near indestructible material, and some random guy with a glow stick of death puts a hole in it without a fight. Eli angrily got to her feet.

"Thanks, Jarvette. I need you to find a weakness in his defenses. His abilities can only go so far, and find out who made his weapon. I'll be suing them for all they are worth in the morning." Eli ground out. The weapon was even able to burn some of her skin. Eli ran out of the museum.

Across the street in the plaza, the man had everyone on their knees. Eli couldn't hear what the mystery man was saying, but she did notice that there were several copies of him. Eli wondered what kind of mutant he was. Then a lone man stood up in the crowd. Eli was almost there and could barely make out words.

"…There are no men like me," the mystery man said. Eli couldn't help but notice how rich his voice sounded.

"There are always men like you," the old German said.

"Look to elder people," the mystery man said. He pointed the scepter at the man, "Let him be an example."

Eli tried to run faster. Tried to reach the mystery man before he could fire the weapon, but the mystery man fired the weapon when Eli was five feet away. Eli stopped running and watched in horror at what was to come next.

But the beam of light didn't hit the old man, because another man, who apparently fell from the sky used a shield to deflect the beam of light back at Loki. Eli was both amazed and pissed that the man was able to do that. Amazed that he had deflected the beam, that would have killed her if she hadn't been wearing the dress, with a shield, and pissed because his shield did what her dress couldn't.

"Ya know, the last time I was in Germany," the man spoke. Eli noticed that he was wearing a ridiculous spanglely outfit, "and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

"The soldier, a man out of time," the mystery man said as he got back up. It hit Eli then. She knew who the man with the shield was.

"I'm not the one who's out of time," Captain Steve Rogers said. A jet flied up to the plaza with guns armed and aimed at the mystery man.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down," Eli recognized the voice as Natasha's. Loki fired the weapon at the jet. This spurred Eli into action. The captain threw the shield as Eli ran up behind Loki.

The shield hit him and bounced off of him like a bouncy ball. Eli took this time to drop down and kick out Loki's right knee from behind. This surprised him and allowed the captain to strike Loki.

Loki punched the captain, sending him back several feet. Then the dark haired man turned and kicked Eli away from him. Eli just barely moved her arm out of the way of Loki's boot, if she hadn't her arm would be broken. Instead the kick connected with her ribcage. Eli felt her side. Nothing was broken, but she could already feel a bruise forming. With a groan Eli pulled herself up.

Eli heard a clunk at her side. A shield had slammed right next to her. Loki had managed to throw Captain America to the ground and had the blunt end of his scepter at the captain's head.

"Kneel," was the command Loki breathed out.

"Not today!" Captain America pushed the scepter down and kneed Loki in the head. Eli grabbed the shield and Frisbee tossed the shield to the captain. The metal was heavier than it looked. It briefly reminded Eli of Logan.

Captain America caught the shield with ease, but Loki was able to disarm him again, and tossed him to the side. Loki redirected his attention to Eli. The small girl ran towards him. Loki charged the scepter again, and Eli ducked down and slid on her hip the rest of the way to him.

Breathing in, Eli pulled her body up and upper cut Loki as hard as her body would allow. It didn't do much. Eli then used her speed and small stature to evade his strikes and to keep close into him. It was effectively distracting him. But just as Captain America was going to attack him, Loki swung the scepter so that it trapped Eli between him and the scepter.

Eli could feel the heat on her back from the scepter as it charged and fired. Eli stepped forward into Loki's chest to avoid being burned by the discharge, then looked to see Captain America be blown off his feet. Eli saw Loki's hand move in her peripheral vision. He gripped her hair in his hand and pulled hard so that she was looking up at him.

Eli saw that he recognized her, and she briefly wondered if thought this was amusing. Then music filled her ears. The kind that she had grew up with. The kind that she knew was a calling card for one of the most annoying people on the planet. Eli could say she never felt happier to have him around.


	4. Chapter 4

No Warnings

Chapter 4:

Shoot to Thrill played in Eli's ears, and to her right she could see Tony flying in. Eli could feel Loki's fingers loosen. The small girl took the opportunity to duck down and push herself away from Loki.

As Eli jumped back, Loki aimed the scepter at Tony, but Tony was quicker to the trigger. Tony's hand repulsor blasted Loki back. The scepter flew out of Loki's hand and landed just a few feet away from Eli. Tony landed next to Captain America.

"Make a move Reindeer Games," Tony said as he aimed missiles at Loki. With Tony, the captain and the Quinjet hovering over him, Loki held up his hands in surrender and his cape and helmet vanished. "Good move."

"Mr. Stark," Captain America said.

"Captain," Tony said. Eli huffed in disbelief. There was no way Loki would just give up. Eli was going to tell them not to let their guard down, but she could suddenly see Tony's angry face.

"I thought I told you that I better not see you when I got here," Tony had effectively let his guard down. Eli sighed and picked up the scepter.

"You told me to leave," Eli started, "that only made me want to see what was going to happen. Tell Agent Romanoff to send paramedics to the museum. Doktor Schafer is missing eye."

Eli walked up to the two heroes. She turned to look at Loki. Eli examined him closely. He wasn't even trying to escape. This made Eli angry. For the life of her she couldn't explain why she was angry over him not even trying to fight back. She had always hated it when the bad guy tried to escape from her, but Eli could tell that this time it was a different kind of angry.

"Would you please explain what's going on now?" Eli was glaring at Tony. Tony glared right back.

"No, you are going back to your hotel room, packing your bags and going back to the States!" Tony's voice was rising.

"Not even if you begged me," Eli was straining to keep her voice down. Eli glanced at Captain America and then at Loki. Loki was looking at her. More specifically at her bleeding arm, the arm that happened to be holding his scepter. Eli spun the scepter behind her back so she could hold it in her right hand. Then an idea slipped into her head.

"Okay, I'll go, but I'm taking this with," Eli motioned to the scepter in her hand.

"Kornelia, put the weapon down," Eli heard Natasha say from the P.A. system of the Quinjet. Eli only smiled up at the jet. She then turned on her heel back toward the museum. Someone grabbed onto the scepter.

"I'm sorry Miss, but I can't let you take this," Captain America said. Eli laughed at the déjà vu she was experiencing. She had said similar words to Loki. Eli looked at Tony, and pulled hard on the scepter. It caused the captain to lurch forward, but he didn't let go.

"Like I said, it goes with me," Eli smiled pleasantly at Captain America. She pulled on the scepter one more time and forced it out of the super soldier's hands. The look on his face was priceless. Eli began walking again. "But I would give it back if you just explained what was going on."

"Kornelia, stop being a brat and give me the glow stick now!" Tony was angry, but Eli knew that Tony would never intentionally hurt her.

"Okay, let's get a few things straight. Granted I disobeyed you by staying here, I got my ass handed to me by a random, seemingly crazy, man. And if that's not all, Jarvette's readings show that he isn't a mutant. And excuse me if I feel a little offended right now by that. So, I want answers, and will get them even if I have to take S.H.I.E.L.D. down a few pegs." Eli was gripping the scepter loosely incase she needed to use it as a pseudo-Bo staff. Eli's watch started to burn her wrist, and Eli internally cursed Jarvis.

"That hurts you know!" Eli said fixing a glare at Tony. "All I want are answers. How hard is it to just give me them? And, in case you haven't noticed yet, I'm pretty sure that Schafer's iridium supply has been stolen; and I have information on what it's applications are."

Tony and Captain America looked at each other for a moment. Tony then walked up to Eli and took the scepter out of her hand and motioned her to follow them. The burning in her wrist stopped soon after. Tony gave Captain America the scepter and then lifted Loki up from the ground. Natasha lowered the Quinjet so that the small group could board it. Natasha was angrily staring at Eli.

"Explain why he needs the iridium," she ordered.

"I acquired a journal yesterday; it was written by a German scientist who had worked on his research during World War II. He describes a cube of immense power and its possible locations." Eli started when she was cut off.

"You mean Johann Schmidt," Steve Rogers said.

"Actually no, it was a Doktor Ulrich Von Wolfgang, but I'm almost positive Doktor Schmidt was involved with Wolfgang's research. Wolfgang mentions him several times. It was actually Schmidt's notes that lead me to look into Wolfgang.

"You see, Wolfgang was a scientist who was heavily influenced by ancient cultures. Especially Viking mythology," Eli glanced at Loki. "He believed that the Vikings hid several objects of great power for their gods. Wolfgang was interested in using this cube as an energy source.

"The end of his journal is filled with paranoid scribbles about a man with a red face trying to steal his research. A few months after Wolfgang's last entries, there are reports of weapons of immense destruction sprouting up under a secret German organization called Hydra. Which I'm sure you are familiar with," Eli motioned to Steve.

"No one is supposed to know about Hydra," Natasha said from the front of the Quinjet. "How do you know about them?"

"Men keep journals of their adventures," Eli answered simply. "Now, Schmidt was able to, in a sense stabilize, the power of this cube right? He used metals that aren't normally found on Earth. Wolfgang lists possible metals that could be used to lock away the cube's power. Iridium, vibranium, adamantium, and several others were on this list.

"If the Vikings were really hiding this cube, then it would have to have been hidden by one of those metals."

"How is that important?" Steve asked. Tony sighed and rolled his eyes.

"You aren't very sciencey are you?" Eli asked. "Don't worry, Tony understood what it means…he can explain it to you later. He," Eli motioned to Loki, "obviously isn't a mutant and the cube is definitely real, so what the hell happened?"

"Last year around the same time that you started the inhibitor trials we had visitors from another world. Specifically from Asgard. No one from Asgard returned after the battle, until yesterday…" Natasha explained. Eli watched Loki closely. He was being quiet, and doing nothing but sitting there. Eli sighed and caught her reflection in the cockpit widows. Her dress was all but destroyed from the scepter and her arm was covered in blood.

"Do you have anything I can change into in here?" Eli asked Natasha.

"Check in the back. There should be at least one spare uniform," Natasha said distractedly. Eli moved past Tony and Steve. They were both glaring at Loki.

"Captain Rogers," Eli said as she looked through the compartments in the Quinjet, "did you actually met Johann Schmidt and seen what the Hydra weapons could do first hand?"

Eli found the spare uniform and started to change in the back of the Quinjet. Steve sputtered and quickly turned around. Eli gave a small laugh at his reaction. Eli traced her fingers around the closing wound of her stomach, and then inspected her arm.

"Does she realize that she is changing in front of three men?" Steve said in disbelief.

"She does what she wants," Tony said. His voice was teeming with anger. "Eli doesn't listen so it's useless to try and stop her…"

Eli rolled her eyes at Tony's words. If she was in any real danger, Eli would avoid it. Eli thought that life needed a little excitement every once in a while. Eli noticed that Loki was staring at her healing wounds.

"I mistook you for a mutant. To be honest, when I found out that you weren't one, I was very angry. You see, most humans can't even put a scratch on my clothes, let alone actually injuring me. I'm glad to hear that you are in fact not human." Eli let her dress drop from her body completely. Loki watched the motion, and Eli felt as though her heart did a flip in her chest. She would never show that it happened, though. Eli leveled her blue eyes with Loki's green ones when he looked up.

"Still though, I'm not at a complete disadvantage. Despite not being at my full strength, I have retained some of my former abilities. For example, my regenerative abilities seem to still be working."

Eli pulled on the S.H.I.E.L.D. jumper and slowly zipped it up. Loki's eyes followed the motion, and Eli could feel her stomach do a flip. Again, Eli would not show her reaction. She wondered what he was thinking as he watched her put her clothes on. Hope bubbled in her chest for a small moment; hope that Loki enjoyed seeing her undress.

Eli crushed down that hope just as quickly as it had appeared. Eli still wanted to know what he was thinking though. Charles Xavier's face forced its way into the forefront of Eli's mind. Telepathy hadn't been one of the abilities Eli used often. She wasn't sure if she could use it while under the Mutant X-Gene Inhibitor's influence. She would try thought.

Eli braced herself and opened her mind to her surroundings. All she could hear was fuzz. Pushing her mind a little harder toward Tony, Eli was able to hear a voice that sounded like Tony but it was incoherent. Frustrated, Eli sat down directly across from Loki without breaking eye contact from him, and concentrated a little harder.

A very angry Tony was thinking about Eli's behavior, about Pepper, and about standing next to someone his father idolized; among things. Eli then focused in on Loki. She wanted to see what was in his head and she was determined to see what laid there.


	5. Chapter 5

No Warnings

Chapter 5

Eli expected many things from Loki's mind. Plans of world domination, a childhood without attention, perhaps even a beautiful woman. Several scenarios of the next few hours would have been the most likely of all the things Eli expected. What wasn't expected, was a wall. A giant wall made of some kind of stone that had runes carved all over it.

Eli pulled out of Loki's mind and just stared at him dolefully. The man was familiar with people who could read minds. If she wasn't careful, Loki could detect her trying to infiltrate his mind and push back.

Well, the two of them were still staring at each other, and Eli would be damned if she was going to be the first one to look away. Eli sniggered mentally at how much Tony must be freaking out at that moment. As if to mock Eli, Tony chose that exact moment to comment on the situation.

"Would you please stop staring! It's making me nauseous!" Tony complained. Eli propped her leg up and rested her elbow on her knee as if to say "make me".

"Why is she staring at him?" Steve asked in whispers. Eli was quicker to the draw and answered:

"Because he is at least good to look at." All the while, Eli placed her index and middle fingers to her temple and dived back into Loki's mind.

Eli was still blocked by the wall. Eli pushed a little harder with more focus. Still only more wall. Eli looked up to see if the wall could be jumped over. She knew that there was a ninety-nine percent chance that it wouldn't work, but it made her feel better. The wall seemed to reach the sky endlessly. Eli frowned and walked closer to the wall to inspect it.

She didn't get the chance. As the little brunette approached the wall something snagged her leg and she fell into the wall. Eli pulled away from Loki's mind is as though it burned her. Eli fought to keep the surprise off of her face, but she knew that Loki would know someone was trying to pry into his thoughts.

Sure enough, Loki's eyes suddenly became guarded and angry. It was subtle, so much so that Eli thought that she had imagined it. Loki's eyes darted about the cabin of the Quinjet. His eyes scorched over everyone in the aircraft. Molten Green zeroed in on Eli's face. Eli was impressed by how quickly Loki realized she was prying into his mind.

Loki focused on Eli more intently than before. How did he find out it was me, Eli thought. Eli forced her face to relax; forced herself not to react to Loki's intense stare. Eli cursed mentally when he squinted slightly; the small action distracted Eli enough for her to loose concentration, and Eli felt a formidabe force try to enter her mind.

Eli rigidly stood up and sat next to Loki and pushed back and tried to force her way into Loki's head. Eli ignored Tony's angry voice and focused only on clawing her way into Loki's mind.

The veils of water of Eli's mind met the great wall of Loki's. He stood a ways away from Eli at the base of his wall. He certainly did look magnificent and powerful in his mindscape. Not to be distracted again, Eli approached Loki.

"I'm not sure if I should be surprised that you noticed me," Eli began. "You see I am actually a very powerful copy-cat mutant; One of the most powerful on Earth. Normally I can slip in and out of minds without anyone ever noticing me. You are among the handful that did catch me…"

Eli scowled for a second, "So, now that you've found me, what will you do?"

"Did you really think that you could hide your presence from me, a God?" Loki said with angry amusement.

"Of course, there isn't anything I can't do. Well, perhaps not at the moment, but, soon enough, I will be much more powerful than I am now." Eli sounded confident. More so than what she actually felt. An amused smirk wound its way onto Loki's face.

"And have you found what you were looking for?" Eli narrowed her eyes at the lack of resentment in the Asgardian's voice. "Or are you just as pathetic as the rest of your race?"

Eli scowled as she forced herself out of the clashing mindscapes. "I'm impressed that you were able to resist my telepathic ablities. Next time it won't be so easy."

Tony made a sound of relief. The blue eyed girl could hear a "Thank God" coming from one half of her guardians. Eli eyed Loki. Like everyone else she knew, he was much taller than she was. That wasn't much of a surprise, but for someone who was a god, he looked as though he had been starved and broken on a long journey. Sympathy threatened to make itself known. So Eli did the first thing that came to mind.

"For a god, you're not all that powerful," Eli looked Loki straight in the eyes as she said it. Loki did a small chuckle.

"For a human that can't even do anything by herself, you're quite feeble. I assume that even the lowest of creatures in this forsaken world could cause your downfall. I suppose that make you lower than even humans." Loki said the words that would ruffle Eli's feathers the most. Eli understood what it meant to be weak, to be fragile, to be vulnerable. It was a feeling she hated with a passion. Eli leaned closer to Loki.

"At least I wasn't defeated by three humans and a creature lower than them," Eli said coldly. "I wonder what that makes you. Certainly you must be more pathetic than I am."

Loki's eyes became colder as well. He leaned toward Eli. He was about to say something when lightening struck.

"Where's this coming from?" Eli heard Natasha ask from the front of the jet. Loki's left eye twitched slightly. Lightening struck again. Loki took in a deep breath. Eli could tell that something was bothering him. Lightening struck a third time and Loki's green eyes left Eli's gaze completely. The motion did not go unnoticed by the other occupants of the Quinjet.

"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightening?" Steve said, there was some annoyance in his voice.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki said. Tony and Steve looked at each other. Eli could tell that Loki was looking for something. Eli couldn't figure it out. Then, suddenly, the Quinjet lurched, as though something had landed on it. The smallest occupant of the Quinjet wanted to smack herself in the forehead. Today was Thor's Day, the god of thunder.

Tony and Steve donned their head gear. Tony moved to the back of the Quinjet and opened the back hatch.

"What're you doing?" Steve asked, trying to catch up to Tony. Eli was thinking the same thing. Eli was sure that Tony didn't know who he was letting into the Quinjet. Sure enough, a large blonde man came landed in the Quinjet. He was much larger than Loki was. Eli could tell immediately that Thor was more of a head on person, rather than someone who likes to stick to the shadows to wait and strike. What happened next occurred faster than Eli's eyes could follow.

Tony charged his repulsors to attack Thor, but the new Asgardian threw Mjlonir at Tony. Eli's breath caught at the sound of metal hitting metal, she silently thanked the universe for the fact that Tony was protected by his suit. Thor was suddenly in front of Eli and Loki. Loki was forcibly being pulled from his seat and being dragged out of the Quinjet. Eli would have been lying if she said she wasn't a little amused by Loki's manhandling.

"Now there's that guy," Tony half sighed half groaned.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha said from the cockpit.

"Think he's a friendly?" Steve asked, he sounded a little winded.

"It doesn't matter. If frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract is lost." Tony said determinedly. "You stay here." Tony looked at Eli who was starting to cross the Quinjet.

"Stark! We need a plan of attack!" Steve yelled across the jet.

"I have a plan: Attack!" Tony said, before he propelled out of the Quinjet. Eli had already pulled one of the parachutes out. Steve quickly followed.

"You guys might want to sit this one out," Natasha said. Eli was at the back hatch already. "Eli, take an intercom."

"I don't see how I can," Steve said, buckling himself into the parachutes harness.

"These guys come from legend. They're basically gods." Natasha called back.

"There's only one god, ma'am." Steve retorted. "And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." Eli was glad she got to hear the end of that conversation. She was laughing on her way down. Despite the fact that Eli jumped head first into the stormy waters, she could feel fear crawl its way up her spine. She wasn't sure what it was from, but she didn't allow herself to dwell on it.


	6. Chapter 6

No Warnings

Chapter 6

Eli could feel cold air hit her face and blow her hair about. She was strongly reminded of training with Storm. She missed those days. The brunette pulled the release to the chute, and she felt her descent jerk to a steady slow pace.

Eli could see Tony zooming toward the two Asgardians. Eli knew she would get to them after Tony did; she could only hope that Tony didn't do anything stupid. Eli could see that Tony slammed into Thor. Eli groaned.

"Steve, when you land head toward Tony and Thor…the guy with the cape. If I go I won't be able to stop them." Eli looked toward where Loki was. The tall man sat himself down and got comfortable. "I'll head toward Loki, he doesn't look like he will be much of a problem."

"Are you sure?" Steve asked over the intercom.

"Yeah. Natasha, start heading out this way too, but be discrete. I don't want our ride to accidentally be destroyed by the two of them." Eli said as she landed. She was glad that she was relatively close to where Loki was. His back was facing her, when she reached him. Eli was amused by how blissfully unaware he was of her presence. She wondered how close she could get to him without him noticing. She was about five feet from him when he spoke.

"You can't keep your nose out of places where it doesn't belong can you?" Loki asked without looking at her. Eli scowled at the man in front of her. They both knew that she could do nothing to harm him. They both also knew that he could end her with less than minimal effort. Despite all of that Eli felt compelled to make Loki look at her.

"Does it kill you to know that they'll band together to stop you, to humiliate you?" Eli asked, she wasn't completely sure if it was to make him angry or if it was to get his attention on herself. Green eyes slowly met her blue ones.

"You think they will stop me?" Loki laughed. Eli had to breathe deeply to calm her suddenly racing heart. "I assure you they will be the ones humiliated."

Eli glanced at the scene before her. Tony had just hit Thor with his repulsors at what seemed to be four hundred percent. They two of them attacked each other with vigor. Eli knew first hand that Tony wasn't one to back down from an argument, and that those tendencies transferred into his crime fighting hobbies. She knew that Tony hated loosing, no matter what.

"I'm sure they'll pull through," Eli walked up to Loki. "Tony hates loosing; almost as much as I do."

Eli sat down beside Loki, and a sense of ease washed over her. Eli squashed that feeling down like it was an insect. Loki shifted so he could see her better. Any tension between the two seemed to be left in the Quinjet. Eli wondered if it was because they were away from prying eyes.

"You should know that I won't stop until I win," Loki said with intent. "There is nothing that can stop me."

"I've heard many people say that," Eli smiled. "Most of them have failed."

"What makes you think I'll fail?" Eli heard genuine curiosity in Loki's voice. Eli searched his face, and wondered how she should reply. A small part of Eli didn't actually believe that Loki would fail. It was like a small splotch of black ink that grew across a white canvas. Eli would have never thought that Tony would fail. She had unflinching faith in him; faith that should never have been questioned.

"Like I said, Tony hates loosing, and besides-" Eli was cut off by a very loud sound as she was nearly flung backward. Eli almost didn't register the fact that strong arms had pulled her close to a firm chest covered in leather. The smell of ice and warm spice invaded Eli's senses. Eli clung to Loki like he was a life-line. As suddenly as the shock wave started it ended.

Eli opened her eyes, her face was buried in Loki's chest. She slowly pulled away from him, though she kept her hands on his chest. Eli could feel Loki's heart beating under her palm. Eli also noticed that Loki's hands had unwrapped themselves from her waist, but they stayed firmly on her hips. They both avoided the other's gaze, and opted to look to the battlefield.

All of the trees surrounding Tony, Steve and Thor looked as though they had been pushed over in a circle around them. The three of them looked perplexed by the situation. Eli almost wanted to laugh at them. "Impressive," Eli said with mirth. Loki looked down at her amused face, Eli knew because she could feel his gaze. Eli met his gaze and was slightly shocked by how close they really were. Eli pushed herself away and up from her spot on the ground. Loki followed.

Eli refused to look at the Asgardian again. There was a familiarity she felt between them that was growing too quickly; like there was some outside force that was trying to force them together. Eli hated being manipulated, but, even as she thought that, she could feel her body tingle where he had touched her. Eli determinedly confirmed that there would be no more touching.

Suddenly, the Quinjet hovered above Eli and Loki. Eli looked up, she could almost feel Natasha's glare. A reluctant sigh passed the brunette's lips, as Tony landed next to her. She was in trouble; she knew it by the way Tony actually pulled her onto the Quinjet. As an after thought, Eli wondered if she shouldn't have had jumped off the jet.

Then Eli defensively thought that they shouldn't have had listened to her plan in the first place, and should have just let Steve deal with Loki. Those thoughts flitted past her brain almost as fast as she had thought of them. Eli realized that it wasn't so much as her ideas that caused this…tension, but as it was the position she and Loki were most likely found in; they were embracing after all.

Eli found herself on the opposite end of the Quinjet as Loki. If she was being honest with herself, she was relieved by where she was put. If it hadn't been for the fact that Tony made her feel like a spoiled five year old that had got caught with her hand in the cookie jar, then she wouldn't be feeling as bitter as she did.

A malleable tension settled into the Quinjet. The tension only grew as the jet got closer and closer to the Helicarrier. Eli desperately wanted to say something, but the anger in Tony's eyes was enough to stop her. Normally, she wouldn't care one damn bit, but Eli knew better than to think that Tony didn't care about her well being. She, Pepper and Rhodey were some of the few people that he depended on.

Eli scowled at the sudden need to apologize to Tony. She wouldn't though; the blue eyed girl was too stubborn for that. Instead, Eli resigned herself to sulking in the corner.

The sun had started to set when the Quinjet reached the Helicarrier. Eli assumed they were somewhere near the States. A guard detail greeted the occupants of the Quinjet. They were to escort Loki to a cell somewhere within the Helicarrier. Thor pulled Loki out of the jet. Steve and Tony followed soon after. Natasha batched her stride with Eli's and the two left the jet to some engineers.

When the group actually got inside of the Helicarrier they dispersed. Tony when off to change out of the Ironman suit. Thor and Steve helped escort Loki part of the way to his cell. Eli wanted to take a shower straight away, but Natasha pulled the smaller woman to the side.

"What do you think you're doing?" Natasha asked in harsh whispers. "How much closer do you plan on getting to him? I thought that you-"

"Natasha, look," Eli interrupted, "even with the inhibitor, I have access to some of my mutant abilities. One of them happened to be Xavier's ability. I tried reading his mind, and he caught me. End of story."

Natasha looked somewhat relieved, but she was still eyeing her. "And what was undressing in front of him?"

Eli looked at Natasha incredulously. "Was that any different from any of the other times I've undressed in front of men while on any kind of mission or outing? Just because I'm not a mutant anymore doesn't mean that I'm going to change everything about myself. Besides, I do what I want."

"I suppose you're right," Natasha admitted with a sigh. The redhead's face still held a look of suspicions, but everything Eli said was true. It wasn't the first time the brunette shed clothes in front of men on missions or on any other occasion for that matter. "We are going to the Conference Room."

"Wait! Can't I go take a shower!"

"No," Natasha once again dragged Eli to a different location. Eli scowled the entire way to the conference room. Eli was bold, but not stupid. She knew that Natasha could put an end to any disruptiveness Eli could think about concocting. Eli also knew that Natasha knew Eli's preferred style of fighting and that she could adjust to the near impossible strengths Eli possessed. And above all that, Natasha could get nasty in a fight, and Eli wasn't going to risk unneeded scars.

As Eli was being pulled away, she realized that Loki could have been a lot like Natasha, in regards to her being cut throat when in a serious fight. Eli could have easily lost her life. The scowl on her face deepened when she realized that she should apologize to Tony. The blue eyed woman hated to be the first one to apologize.

Natasha opened the door to the Conference Room. The sun had gone down, but the room was still brightly lit. Eli could see that the Conference Room doubled as the Control Room. A cruel smirk passed Eli's lips for a second at how much trust there was within S.H.I.E.L.D. As Eli walked in, Nick Fury was heading out; to no doubt speak with Loki. Fury eyed Eli the same way Natasha did.

"What?" Eli said somewhat snippy. The look that Fury gave her a look that meant that they would be talking later. Eli was beginning to worry how bad her wrinkles would be in the morning if she kept up her scowling. The small girl stalked forward and sat herself down in the chair furthest from the door. Eli could practically feel wrinkles forming on her face.


	7. Chapter 7

No Warnings

Chapter 7

Less than five minutes passed before Steve entered the Conference Room with Thor. The two seemed to have been in a hushed conversation that ended the moment they both saw Eli. Eli forced herself not to scowl; she had enough wrinkles already. Moments later, a man about the same height as Tony walked in. His shirt was purple, Eli noticed. The man seemed to be in a state of nervousness; perhaps he was just skittish.

"Dr. Banner," Steve greeted and then motioned to Thor, "This is Thor."

Eli perked up at the name. There was only one Banner that could be involved with S.H.I.E.L.D.: Bruce Banner. Eli examined Banner closely, what Eli thought was just nerves was actually more of a distinct fear that underlined every movement he made. From what Eli knew, that fear was of himself and the power he had, not unlike that of mutants.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Banner asked, after greeting Thor.

"Director Fury has is going to interrogate the prisoner," Maria said as she walked up to the Conference Table. Maria was just as tall as Eli remembered. The to-the-book woman had also given Eli the look of doom. Eli huffed her hair out of her face.

"We'll be listening in on the interrogation through the monitors," Maria pressed a button and several screens appeared on the conference table. "Director Fury will be there any moment."

"Where's Tony?" Eli asked while focusing on trying to get the dried blood off of her nails.

"He's with Agent Coulson at the moment," Maria said, being careful not to give away any locations on the Helicarrier. Eli glanced up at the monitors, and looked back down at her nails. She really could've used a shower, but the screens suddenly lit up.

Loki was just entering a cell that was a cylindrical shape, made of steel and glass. Eli guessed that the cell was located in an area that could easily purge cargo. Eli also guessed that it was located toward the back end of the Helicarrier, by how long it took Fury to reach it. Eli smirked. So much for Maria's attempts at digression. Fury's voice sounded.

"In case it's unclear," Fury began. "You try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass…" Fury pressed a button on a control panel that opened a hatch underneath the cell. "Thirty thousand feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works? Ant" Fury motioned to Loki, "Boot," Fury motioned to the control system. Eli closed her eyes shut tightly. Fury just gave Loki some leverage to use if he did manage to escape. The brunette opened her eyes again when Loki laughed.

"It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think for me," Loki said, Eli knew that the comment was a clear message toward Dr. Banner.

"It's built for something a lot stronger than you," Fury confirmed.

"Oh, I've heard," Loki turned to where the camera was. Eli could see that Natasha and Dr. Banner had exchanged looks. Eli could almost see tension spark between the two. "How desperate are you? To call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You've made me very desperate." Fury walked toward the cell. His voice was calm, but Eli knew Fury well enough to know that the man was probably furious. His control was something that Eli admired. "You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh, it burns you," Loki mocked, "to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power; and for what? A warm light for all mankind to share?" Loki once again looked to the camera. Eli looked up at that comment. The one it was meant for wasn't in the room, but Eli knew that Fury would back down. The director of S.H.I.E.L.D knew better than to have his enemy get anymore sugared words out. "And then to be reminded of what real power is."

Loki turned to face Fury again. Eli could tell by the god's voice that he was promising a dismal future for mankind.

"Well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something," Fury said as he walked away, decisively ending the conversation between Loki and Fury, but Eli knew that the director would send someone a little more…unbendable than even he was. The monitors cut out when the director was out of view.

There was no chance of awkward silence, because Dr. Banner immediately said the one thing that was both amusing and annoying to Eli.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he." Natasha's and Maria's eyes glanced at the smallest person in the room. Thor and Steve were not so tactful. Eli ignored them.

"Loki's going to drag this out," Steve continued the conversation after quickly looking down and away from Eli. "So, Thor what's his play?"

"He has an army, called the Chitauri," Thor's voice was somber. "They are not of Asgard or of any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

Eli watched Thor move without the same vigor as he had when he forced Loki from the Quinjet. Eli almost pitied Thor, but she knew better than to jump to conclusions. There was something else going on, but she wasn't sure what that was yet.

"An army, from outer space?" Steve sounded shell shocked by this news.

"So he's building another portal that's what he needed Erick Selvig for." Dr. Banner inputted.

"Selvig?" Thor questioned.

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

"Loki has him under some kind of spell," Natasha paused before continuing. "Along with one of ours."

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him," Steve said. "He's not leading an army from here."

"Thor," Eli finally spoke up, "I can't help but wonder, if the Earth is really his prize. There's something I'm missing from this picture…"

Thor hesitated, and Dr. Banner must have seen because he interrupted whatever Thor was going to say.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is like a bag full of cats." Dr. Banner said. Eli almost sniggered at how wrong Dr. Banner was. Empty space with a giant wall was more like it…not much of a difference though. "You can smell crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak," Thor said, sounding surprisingly offended. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and my brother." The picture suddenly became clear to Eli. Sibling rivalries where never black and white…with any family.

"He killed eighty people in two days," Natasha said coldly. Thor paused.

"He's adopted…" Thor said finally. That time Eli really did snort, but only once. The looks that she was being given didn't bode well to what would happen if she did laugh.

"I think it's about the mechanics," Dr. Banner said, once again taking the attention off of Eli. She was starting to like the man. "Iridium, what do they need the iridium for?"

Eli was about to answer, but Tony walked in Phil, "It's a stabilizing agent." Eli scowled at the guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach reared it's ugly head again. "So, I'm just saying, take a week, I'll fly you to Portland." Tony said to Phil, and Eli let the guilt wash away. Tony just wanted to steal her thunder, and not only that he was hogging Phil. Eli jumped up from her seat and walked toward Phil.

"Phil!" she hugged the man like the old friend that he was, and for the millionth time ignored all the angry glares for her misbehaving. "Are you still planning on going to my recital? If you are you can fly to _Portland_ with me." Tony frowned at Eli's smile.

"Again why is he Phil. It's Agent." Tony mumbled and continued with an annoyed tone. "And is everyone invited to your recital in _Portland_?"

"Everyone but you, Tony," Eli beamed. "But you could go if you just apologized, and admitted that Jarvette is better than Jarvis when it comes to my work."

"We've been through this," Tony scoffed. "Your cheap knock off is not better than Jarvis."

"Jarvette is not a cheap knock off!" Eli raised her voice. "All you have to do is admit that Jarvis would be terrible at decoding genetic material. Which is true, because it would take him three times longer than it would take Jarvette, and-"

Natasha got annoyed with the two, and was pulling Eli away from the conversation and pushing her into the seat furthest from Tony. Eli was fully prepared to keep the argument going, but she was silenced by the look that Natasha gave her.

"Continue," the Russian commanded of Tony, who made a face at Eli. Eli then stuck her tongue out at him. Phil shook his head and went to his station.

"As I was saying," Tony began. "It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D. No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." Natasha shook her head at Tony when he paused to address Thor. "Also, it means that the portal can open as wide and as long as Loki wants.

"Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails." Tony said, and Eli scoffed. Although, with everyone focused on Eli, the brunette could easily slip away to take a shower, and maybe figure out what Loki's plan is. As Eli tried to inch away, Natasha put a hand on her shoulder. "That man is playing Galaga. He thought that we wouldn't notice, but we did.

"How does Fury even see these?" Tony asked as he looked from one screen to the next with a hand over one eye, mocking Fury.

"He turns," Maria said.

"Sounds exhausting." Tony said before getting back onto the subject. "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density." Eli noticed that Tony had placed something along one of the computers as he walked around them. "Something to kick-start the Cube."

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Maria asked. Eli wanted to applaud Tony on his ability to distract people from the task at hand, even though she was no better.

"Last night," Maria looked confused for a moment, then the man of iron continued. "The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory paper. Am I the only one who did the reading?" Tony said exaggeratedly. He almost sounded like a college kid.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked. He sounded annoyed.

"He would have to heat the Cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Dr. Banner said. Eli perked up and was impressed with the doctor, apparently Tony was too, because he looked at Eli with his eyebrows raised, and continued where Dr. Banner left off.

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." Tony, who was clearly impressed (to anyone that actually knew Tony well), started to walk toward Dr. Banner.

"Well, if he could do that," Dr. Banner said, "he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet." That time Eli did clap.

"Finally, someone who speaks English," Tony said sincerely. Eli whole heartedly agreed with him. She heard Steve say,

"Is that what just happened?" and she patted the super soldier on the back. Tony of course ruined the moment when Tony brought up the fact that Dr. Banner becomes a giant green rage monster and was a huge fan of it. Eli wasn't afraid to admit that she was a fan of that too, but she had kept her mouth shut. Eli also wasn't afraid to admit that she admired Dr. Banner's ability to avoid awkward silences and take Tony's antics in stride.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the Cube," Fury said as he walked through the Conference Room doors. "I was hoping that the two of you would join him." Dr. Banner's eyes grew wide for a moment as Tony and Eli death glared each other.

"If you want us to find the Tesseract in any time in the relative soon category, then you don't want her helping," Tony said. "She hinders my work." Eli was going to make a retort, but Natasha squeezed on Eli's shoulder painfully.

"Maybe it's best if it's just the two of us," Dr. Banner said tactfully. "Too many hands in the kitchen isn't always a good thing…"

"I would start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon." Steve said catching on to what Dr. Banner was trying to do.

"I don't know about that," Fury said as though he was trying to steer the conversation away from the weapon direction, and Tony and Eli shared a look, "but it is powered by the Cube. And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys? I don not understand." Thor was thoroughly confused.

"I do!" Steve said with excitement, then with embarrassment. "I understood that reference." Tony rolled his eyes and left the room with Dr. Banner.

"If you aren't going to help them, then you are to stay here," Fury said to Eli, and the girl scowled.

"I still do not understand," Thor said.


	8. Chapter 8

Warnings: Sexual Themes.

Chapter 8

Eli tapped her finger against the table just to annoy everyone in the room. He had been sitting there for nearly a half an hour bored out of her mind. She knew she was being punished, but that did stop her from rebelling against the punishment. The only ones that seemed to be able to handle Eli's antics where Fury and Thor, who was off brooding in the corner.

"You know, I really need a shower," Eli said for the tenth time to Fury, who completely ignored her. "Eventually one of us are going to break, and either way, I'm going to get a shower."

Still nothing. Eli sighed with frustration. She knew exactly what Fury wanted, but he was waiting for her to make the first move. Fury was different than Tony though. Tony, given enough time, would break under Eli's antics. Fury was used to things like she was doing; probably used to things far worse than what Eli had been doing. Steve, though, was nothing like Fury or Tony.

"I'm going to check on Stark and Dr. Banner," he said. Eli watched him leave the room. She gazed to her left, Natasha was deep in thought and wasn't paying attention. Fury had his back facing her, and Maria was watching a monitor. The only one that had a good view of Eli, was Phil. That was about as good as it was going to get.

Suddenly, Eli stood and sped walked for the door, as Phil turned to one of the computer technicians asked for his help. Natasha was the first one to see Eli move, but the brunette was already half way to the door. Eli heard the footsteps behind stop as she reached the door. It opened for her smoothly.

The Helicarrier was a bit complicated to navigate through, but she was able to do it. The living areas were two decks down, and the only way to get to the lower decks was a staircase that was after the labs, which she was fast approaching. Eli knew she was being followed, and was determined not to stop, but familiar voices made her stop.

"…you're confused about why they did want you around." she heard Steve say. There was only one person he could be talking to that way.

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence?" Tony said as if he was talking to a child. "Historically, not awesome."

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up." Steve tried to reason. Eli leaned against the wall. Steve was most likely right. Loki had already gotten himself into her head, and no doubt both Tony's and Dr. Banner's as well. "This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders. We should follow them."

"Following's not really my style," Eli heard Tony say, and she knew that a potential fight would happen if Steve didn't take this in stride.

"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Steve countered.

"Of the people in this room, which one is, A, wearing a spangly outfit, and, B, not of use?" Eli stopped listening after that. Suddenly she became very concerned about her heroes. They just didn't mix very well. Eli wished that she was a mutant desperately at the moment. That way she could at least make everyone work together and play nice. Eli almost went into the room to tell Tony that she would apologize if everyone stopped fighting. The conflict she was feeling must have shown on her face, because Phil came up next to her.

"They'll be okay you know," he said.

"I'm worried, Phil," Eli said. "They just don't get along well. You didn't see the fight between the three of them, and I know that Loki has already gotten into all of our heads. I'm really worried." Eli paused. "This could have been all over with if I had still been a mutant…"

"Eli," Phil said is his calm voice. "what we have is a room filled with egos. Well, an entire flying boat of egos really," Eli laughed at that. "but if anyone can pull themselves together and stop Loki, it's them. And that's because they are heroes."

"Eli looked up and into Phil's eyes. They were filled with determination, and Eli realized that Phil was right. Despite all of the flaws that Tony had, he was still able to put on his suit every time an occasion called for it, and save the day. All of them had, from what Eli could tell, even Thor and Dr. Banner had tried their hardest to save lives. Eli nodded.

"You're right. Now take me to the nearest shower," Phil laughed at Eli, and the two headed toward the staircase. "Oh, and are coming to my recital?"

"If I do, will I get a good seat?" Phil asked as he lead the two.

"You're the only one that would be in the front row," Eli said knowingly. Phil looked at her strangely as he tried to figure out why it was so important that he go to her recital. They finally made it to the showers.

"I'll come back in a half hour to check up on you. Please be ready and dressed, and I'll escort you back to the Conference Room." Phil said in his agent voice.

"What happens if I'm not ready?" Eli couldn't help but ask.

"Then I'll force you to watch reality TV until Tony asks you to help him find the Cube." he replied. Eli did a double-take to see if Phil was joking or not. He wasn't joking. She only nodded her head.

Eli stepped into the shower and thought over the last day and a half. The world was turned upside down and turned inside out. Her world in particularly. No matter how hard she had tried and forced herself not to think about him, Loki kept popping into her thoughts. Particularly of when she was undressing in front of him, and of the way his eyes followed her every movement.

Eli had to stop herself from trailing her hands in the same motion twice. Hot water was not pouring over her body. Her hair was up, so she wouldn't have to worry about it getting wet, but she wanted to feel the water on her scalp. Breaking, Eli let the water run over her head. She told herself that she did it so that she could clear her head, but even as she thought that, and image of Loki's hands trailing the contours of her body flashed into her mind.

Eli bit her lip. She was not ready in any way shape or form to give into what she was feeling, and she was certainly feeling something. She could feel her core start to throb at the thoughts that she couldn't crush out of her brain. That man's lips, fingers, tongue, and-

Eli bit her tongue to stop herself from getting carried away. And tried to think of something that made her only bothered. _A warm light for all mankind to share_… the phrase had stuck with her for a while now. Eli quickly scrubbed her skin and hair, as she was trying not to touch a single part of her body for too long for the fear of _other_ thoughts barging into her mind.

The girl stepped out of the shower to find a plush white towel and her traveling bag with all of her clothes in them. As Loki's words burned in her mind, Eli steeled her resolve and went through her clothes. She cursed herself for not bringing any actual pants. Eli glared at her choice in clothes, she was forced to put on tights, a dress and a pair of heels. Luckily for her, the color palate was black and grey. She would blend into the shadows of the Helicarrier easier now.

Eli left the bathroom with her things. The first person who seen her looked her up and down. Eli cursed her need for attention. The red shoes, the only shoes, she had brought with her, beside the pair that Loki destroyed, were perfectly selected so people would do exactly what the person in front of her did: ogle her, and wish they could have her or be her.

Eli really hated being narcissistic sometimes, but only sometimes. Eli smiled toothily and pulled her hair up into a loose bun. The guy did a double take and left the room, completely forgetting what he was supposed to be doing. It was now or never, and Eli chose now. She could only hope that her good looks would keep her out of trouble long enough for her to get to the more secluded areas of the Helicarrier.

As Eli reached the back of the Helicarrier she kept telling herself that the reason she was going to see Loki was not because she wanted to see him, or feel his gaze on her skin, or to simply hear the rich tones of his voice. Instead, she told herself that she was going to solve the mystery of the warm light.

In the more secluded Detention Center, there were guards that blocked the most direct path to the cylinder cell that Loki was placed in. Eli smirked at how little their defenses were. Even with her heels on, Eli jumped onto the railing that she was next to and up to the pipes that ran along the ceiling; all without making a single noise. All those years of training with Mystique proved be one useful ventures she had ever taken on.

Eli crawled from one room to the next, and came into an open area with a staircase. If she went a little further, Eli could be just above the cell. The blue eyed girl was surprised to she Natasha there. Even more surprised by where the conversation between the Russian and Asgardian was going.

"-daughter. Sao Paolo. The hospital fire? Barton told me everything." Eli knew what Loki was referring to, even without ever delving into Natasha's mind, she knew. Natasha was famous in Russia for the things she had done, and, like Eli, they were things that she was not proud of. "Your ledger is dripping. It's gushing red and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer. Pathetic!" Natasha was unable to keep the fear off of her face. Eli wondered how much of it was an act.

"You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are part of you. And they will never go away." Eli knew that was true, even in her case. She had been with the Brotherhood for some time, before she became disillusioned to their violent ways. She had turned a new leaf, but that still didn't stop her from missing the kind of power that Erik Lensherr offered her, or his words. If it hadn't been for Pepper, Tony and Rhodey, Eli would still be nothing more than a menace to society. The sound of a fist on glass made both Eli and Natasha jump, and Eli knew that Natasha wasn't acting now. The Russian was truly terrified. Loki's words had gotten to the most stone faced women she had ever known.

"I won't touch Barton, not until I make him kill you. Slowly, intimately, in everyway he knows you fear, and then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work and when he screams, I'll split his skull." Loki spat, his voice was practically a growl and shivers ran up Eli's spine despite the horrid image that was in her head. Natasha turned away from Loki. What Loki saw as weakness, Eli saw as an expert spy composing herself. "This is my bargain you mewling quim."

"You're a monster," Natasha said with a faux shaky voice. Loki laughed.

"Oh, no. You brought the monster," Loki smirked, and Natasha turned back completely composed and cold as her old self.

"So, Banner. That's your play," Natasha said as she looked Loki in the eye.

"What?" Loki was in disbelief, Eli really had to hand it to Natasha, she was certainly the best.

"Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the Lab. I'm on my way. Send Thor as well." Natasha said into an earpiece as she walked away from Loki. The captured god followed Natasha's movements. Suddenly, Natasha turned back towards Loki, and with a deep breath said, "Thank you, for your cooperation." and walked away, leaving Loki in angry disbelief.

Eli left her hiding place from the ceiling, and walked up to the chair that Natasha had been sitting in moments ago, all with the silence of a cat.

"Don't let her get you down. She's the best in the business, not even some of the powerful telepathic mutants can out wit her." Eli said, and conveniently left out the fact that he really did get to her. Slowly, Loki turned to look at her. Green hued eyes pierced Eli, and she felt that heat rush through her body again. "Although, I suppose that you can't even match up to even the weakest of mutants."

"Brave words from the other side of a cage," Loki said with annoyance. Feeling the challenge, Eli smirked at Loki. Of all the stupid things that the brunette could have done at the moment, she chose the stupidest among them.

Eli closed her eyes to concentrate. Kitty's mutant abilities were on of Eli's favorites to use, and she used them considerably more than Xavier's. Tingling spread across Eli's entire body. Without opening her eyes, Eli crossed through the glass and entered the cell that Loki occupied.

"You're still weaker than a mutant," Eli said with a smirk and opened her eyes, completely disregarding the reason she was there in the first place.

"Impressive, but it takes so much out of you," Loki said. Eli knew that it was dangerous to use so many mutant abilities in one day. She could feel her body start to slow down and try to recuperate, but Eli was too proud to ever show weakness.

"And you will still lose," Eli mocked back. Loki was on Eli faster than her body could react. His strong hand wrapped itself around her neck and he forced her up against the wall. He let Eli hang a whole foot above the ground.

"Even you doubt that you'll win," Eli choked out. Is as suddenly as he attacked her, Loki dropped Eli with a huff. That time she didn't land quietly, Loki looked to her feet and up her legs, where he quickly glared up at Eli's face.

"And you doubt that your heroes will win," Loki spat at the brunette. The harsh statement hit Eli right to her core. If everyone didn't start to try to work together soon, then Loki would win for sure. Eli looked Loki straight in the eye.

"You're right. I'm not so sure that my heroes will win." Eli admitted. "But, you seem like the kind of guy who enjoys a good wager. If you do manage to win, I will help you subjugate the human race. Starting with S.H.I.E.L.D. But if I win, you have to teach me Asgardian magic; by letting me into your mind." Eli ignored the fact that she really didn't want to know Asgardian magic, all she wanted was a free pass into his mind.

"You really are quite pathetic aren't you. Having to depend on me. Are you so incapable of anything that you have to use me as a crutch?" Loki ridiculed the small girl.

"No matter what you say, you are the same as me." Eli said with unbridled confidence. Loki pinned Eli to the wall again, just as violently as the first time, but instead of choking her Loki gripped her shoulders with nearly enough force to break the girl's clavicles. Loki bent down so that he was eye level with Eli.

"I am nothing like you," he said through clenched teeth. His face was impossibly close to Eli's.

"You need me as much as I need you," Eli said with conviction. Something small changed in Loki's expression. His jaw unclenched and his eyes softened only in the slightest and his grip loosened just barely. It was something that if she had not been so close to him Eli wouldn't have noticed.

Loki looked as though he was about to say something, but the entire Helicarrier jolted. Unprepared for the sudden quake, Eli fell into Loki. In that small moment, due to the proximity of the warring pair, Eli's lips brushed against Loki's. Electricity pulsed through Eli's entire body. Blue eyes fluttered shut and the kiss lingered for moments. Eli jerked back after a moment realizing that she was just kissing the man that had ambitions to enslave the human race.

Loki didn't let Eli escape for long. He dove in for another kiss. His fingers brushed through brown hair, causing the loose bun to fall out, and her hair to become chilled. Eli could only whimper in protest. There was something that since the moment she had met him told her that she wanted to have Loki in every way possible. It told her that she needed to know him in mind, body and soul.

The electricity sparked by the first instantaneous kiss was now building into a full force storm. Desperately, Eli clung to Loki's body, trying to pull him closer. Loki was also pulling Eli closer, he lifted her so that the petite girl's mouth and neck were in an easier position for him to reach. Eli wrapped her legs around the god's waist. The skirt of Eli's dress had risen up to her hips.

Loki's tongue entered Eli's waiting mouth and she moaned at the cool sensation of him. One of his hands ran down the length of her body to her leg, where he gripped and pulled her closer to him. Eli gasped out as he ground into her in a pulsating rhythm. At the loss of her mouth, Loki attacked the pale column of neck nipping and sucking on her.

Eli didn't care that the god was completely dominating her. She didn't care that there was probably complete chaos going around the Helicarrier. At the moment all she cared about was getting the man, who was inching his hand up to her core, out of his armor and clothes. Eli whimpered when Loki bypassed her now dripping core and went up her dress to touch her flat stomach.

Loki smirked and licked Eli's lips before plundering them once again. She hadn't felt this blissful in her entire life. Not when she first met Pepper, or when Mystic offered sanctuary, or even when she first realized that she could do some good in the world. Eli desperately needed to feel Loki's skin on hers. Just as she was about to beg him to take her, a loud roar thundered through the Detention Center.


	9. Chapter 9

Warnings: References to Death and Blood

Chapter 9

The sound of the Hulk's roar ran like a thousand bells in Eli's ears. Eli's head was suddenly clear of whatever fog that clouded her judgment. Loki pulled away from the girl's swollen lips and smirked at the sounds. He bent his head down so he could meet his lips with Eli's once more, but the sound of the Hulk's rampage shook the small girl to her soul.

When Loki's lips met Eli's she used all the strength she could muster to push Loki off of her. She almost fell to the ground when his body wasn't supporting hers anymore. Eli steadied herself with deep breathes, and looked everywhere except at Loki.

"What's wrong, dear?" Loki taunted. "Moments ago you were fine with my advances. I dare say that you enjoyed them to your core."

Eli shot the hardest glare she had ever made at him, looking directly into Loki's green eyes. He was not daunted by the severe look. In fact, the leather clad man laughed at the girl.

"You know that your heroes will fail. You've already admitted that." Loki's locked onto Eli's lips. "You can do nothing now, but kneel at my feet."

An image lofted it's way into Eli's mind, putting cracks in her resolve. She couldn't help it when her eyes shot down to the god's groin and lingered there, before gazing back into Loki's eyes. "Is kneeling all that you would have me do?" the sound of her wonton voice made Eli cringe, and she once more hardened herself.

"My heroes will win," Eli said with so much conviction that Loki's smirk turned to a glower and he approached her threateningly. Quickly as she could, Eli once more focused on Kitty's powers. It was considerably harder that time, but she was able to slip out of the cell just as Loki reached out for her. Eli nearly fell over, and she had to lean on the railing to keep her balance. Eli adjusted her dress, cold wet hair fell into her face, and pushes it back.

"It takes so much out of you," Loki mocked Eli. "All that you could accomplish was an escape no more than a few feet away. You won't be able to get away from me once I'm freed."

"You won't be freed," Eli bit back. "I can assure you that there are agents on their way here right now. They are going to make sure that you don't get away. But in the mean time, I wanted to ask you a question.

"_A warm light for all mankind to share_. Was a jab at Tony wasn't it." Eli more stated than asked. "Which means that you're planning something that has to do with Tony. You already used Dr. Banner…"

Eli paused as she realized what he meant to do. Her eyes shot up as to meet Loki's. Mirth was in his eyes at her realization. Immediately, Eli turned on her heel and headed for the doors so she could find the nearest S.H.I.E.L.D agent. Her travels were cut short when the Helicarrier started to tilt to one side. Eli had to once again grip onto the railing to stop herself from falling. Eli shot a glare at Loki who simply smiled at her.

Eli regained her balance and once again started to head for the door. Eli almost smiled when two S.H.I.E.L.D agents entered the room. They're guns didn't lower when they saw Eli, and the girl almost groaned in frustration.

"Put your hands in the air!" one of them yelled.

"If I do that I'll fall," Eli said tiredly. "I'm going to need some help…" The two imposters looked at each other, before one of them approached Eli. He used one hand to reach out to her, and had the other hold her gun. Eli grabbed his hand, and he started to pull her up. He practically dragged her toward the other man. When they were close enough, wrenched her wrist out of the first's grasp, and did a standing back flip, letting both of her heels kick the first man under the chin. The first fell backward and dropped his gun. Eli bolted for it and had it in her hand when the second man slammed his foot down on her hand, nearly breaking it.

Eli then did a crouching hand stand and pushed herself up as hard as she could, landing two good kicks to the second's stomach. Eli flipped herself onto her feet and the first grabbed her from behind. Eli used the first's momentum to flip him over her shoulder. Unfortunately, the first man kept his grip on Eli and she too flew forward in a summersault. They landed on the second man.

Eli gripped the first's fingers and bent them backward, and he quickly let go. Eli quickly got up and punt kicked the first imposter, effectively knocking him out. As the Helicarrier tilted more, Eli lost her balance and slid toward the cell. The second imposter barreled toward her. Just when the second was within touching distance, Eli ducked down and slid under the railing, and held on for dear life. The second man was unable to stop, and fell to the bottom of the hanger. Eli heard a snap. She knew that the man had broken something, and he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

With some effort, Eli pulled herself back up walkway. Loki smirked at her as she looked up at him. She had bruises and cuts that weren't healing like before, and her tights had holes and runs in them now. Her dress was wrinkled and torn at one of the shoulder. Eli scowled at Loki.

The room's doors opened again and two more S.H.I.E.L.D imposters came in, one of them had the scepter. Eli did groan this time. One of them came directly up to her and punched at her. She was able to block all of his strikes, but she wasn't able to attack back. Her body was becoming more and more exhausted, as she was backed into the cell.

Finally, Eli was able to get in a good punch to the head, but it was too slow, and the imposter grabbed her head and slammed it into the glass of the prison that held Loki. Eli dropped to the floor in a daze.

"Please be more careful with the things that belong to me," Loki said in a faux concerned voice. If Eli was looking at him, she would have been able to see the rage that simmered just behind his eyes at her treatment.

One of the other imposters opened the door to the cell, and Loki walked out as though the incline of the Helicarrier didn't effect him. He rounded the corner and walked toward Eli. He lifted her and dragged her toward the control panel. He bent down and whispered in her ear.

"I want you to have a front row seat to the destruction of your heroes," he said with bite. Eli looked up at him, would her heroes fail, was the question that ran itself in circles in her mind. She remembered what Phil said to her.

"My heroes will never fail," she said finally. "Not against you or anyone else." Loki looked down at Eli with gentle eyes, and he brushed the bleeding bump on her head with gentle fingers.

"I will kill your heroes," Loki said this with a voice colder than the deepest depths of hell. He let go of Eli as another person held her back. Eli looked down, and forced the wretched feelings of doom and sadness back to the depths of her soul.

"Sir, Thor is on his way to the Detention Center, and is head straight here." The one who fought Eli said. Eli struggled in hold of the one who was holding her.

"We shouldn't disappoint now should we," Loki said while he placed a hologram of himself within the cell. Eli slammed her heeled shoe into the imposter's shin. His grasp loosened and Eli took a deep breath in and swung her body around to back elbow the man in the temple. The impact of the blow stung Eli's arm. She spun back around and yelled,

"Tho-!" Loki had walked up to Eli and back handed her. He hit her so hard that her cheek was cut on her teeth. Eli was stunned for a moment and then spat out blood from her mouth. She looked up to see Loki glaring death down at her.

Suddenly, Thor burst into the room, only to see a fake Loki leave the cell. Thor tackled the hologram and was sent flying into the cell face first. Thor looked around confused, until his gaze landed upon Loki and Eli. The two were glaring at each other. Finally Loki looked away.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" Loki said with little amusement. In an attempt to free himself from the cell, Thor uses Mjolnir to break the glass. The glass cracks but does not break. Even Loki staggers as the entire hanger jerks with the force of the blow. Eli takes that moment to place herself between the control panel and Loki.

Loki, who is more concerned with Thor, doesn't notice Eli's movements. "The humans think us immortal." Loki said as he moved to the control panel. "Should we test that?" Loki was stopped, by Eli who firmly placed her body between him and control panel. Rage boiled in Loki's eyes, but Eli didn't waiver. The look in her eyes told Loki that the brunette wasn't going to move without a fight. In a rage, Loki slapped her across the face. Her head shot to the right, the force of the hit caused her to crumble to the floor. Eli spat out more blood. The left side of her face felt on fire. Thor jumped to the glass and pounded it with his fist. Loki lifted the glass covering the eject button and smirked at his once was brother.

The other guard that had been in the room suddenly made a grunting noise and fell to the ground. Phil Coulson stood there with a rather large gun in his hands. Eli smiled up at him. She was never so happy to see someone in her life.

"Move away, please," he told Loki. Loki backed away from the panel, and stepped toward Phil. Both Thor and Eli looked pleased. Eli stood to her feet shakily. "You like this? We started working on the prototype after the sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does." Phil powered the gun up, "Wanna find out?"

Suddenly, the scepter cut through Phil's chest, and he gasped out. Thor and Eli screamed out "No!" Loki, who had been standing next to Eli, had teleported to Phil. Eli ran up to Phil as he fell to the ground. Loki smirked at Thor and motioned to the blood on the scepter.

"Phil! Phil!" tears were falling from Eli's eyes. It was the first time she had cried since Tony had gone missing. "Phil, just hold on! I can help you!"

Eli put pressure on the gaping wound on Phil's chest. Blood poured out of the wound and covered Eli's hands. "Phil, just keep your eyes open okay! Help! Someone help-!" Loki pulled Eli away from Phil. "No! NO!" Eli struggled against Loki as he dragged her away from her dying friend.

"The only thing you should be caring about now is me and me alone!" he yelled at her as he forced her to look at him. Tears fell from Eli's eyes and she took unsteady breaths.

"I couldn't care less about you or your wellbeing!" Eli spat. "I hope-" Loki didn't let Eli finish. He tossed her away from him with such force that hit the wall with a resounding thud. The back of her head slammed against wall, leaving a specks of blood. Eli felt her body begin to shut down, and in a panic, focused on Logan's mutant abilities. Slowly she felt the tell tale prickles at the back of her head. Loki stalked off to the control panel. Thor looked helplessly to Eli and Phil, and then to the ground. Loki locked eyes with Thor, and pressed the button, letting Thor plummet to the ground.

Eli could see that Loki was making his way back toward her. Then she heard Phil's voice.

"You're going to loose," he said, his voice was weaker than before, but Eli could still hear his resolve. More tears welled in her eyes as she looked at her friend. Loki turns away from Eli and scoffs at Phil.

"Am I?" he said.

"It's in your nature," Phil said with a deep breath.

"Hmm," Loki was just barely amused. "Your heroes are scattered. Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction," Phil said, and Eli sobbed out at his words. Those same words once saved her life.

"I don't think I'm-" Loki was cut off by a blast of orange energy from the gun that Phil still had in his hands. Loki is thrown through another wall.

"So that's what it does." Phil said amused, and then his tone more serious. "And don't you ever hit her again."

Eli sobbed louder that time. The injured girl tried to move toward Phil, but every time she tried, her head would spin and she would fall. She locked eyes with Phil as her vision began to tunnel. She felt someone pulling at her. She could tell that it was Loki, by the feel of the hands pulling her up. She suddenly remembered what Loki was planning.

"Phil…Phil, tell Tony…" Eli's vision was now completely black. "…it's…Tony…tell him…" Eli wasn't able to form a complete sentence. The darkness took her into blissful unconsciousness


	10. Chapter 10

Warnings: References to Death and Violence

Chapter 10

Eli could feel gentle finger brush the left side of her face. It was the side of her face that was throbbing painfully. The back of her head was throbbing too, but it wasn't as bad as her face. Eli leaned into the cool touch of the fingers and sighed back into the darkness.

Eli found herself standing next to Pyro. They were in front of a building. She felt uneasy as he gleamed at the building. She knew there were innocent people there. She knew what Pyro wanted to do. Eli watched as he snapped his fingers and the sparks created fire. The fire grew in his hands and he smiled.

"Wait," Eli said coldly. "What if there are other mutants in the building? We don't want to hurt them." Pyro looked back at her incredulously.

"Come on, Enigma," Pyro said annoyed. "You know that we have to do this. That guy is supporting anti-mutant organizations."

"Yes, but if we do covertly, no besides him has to die," Eli said in a cold voice. She realized that she was dreaming. No one had called her Enigma in a long, long time. It was her mutant name. "There are innocent people in that building."

"Yeah, and I bet you more than anything all of the people in that building are anti-mutant too! You wanna know why? Because they are living under the same roof as he is. They listen to the garbage he spouts off everyday! And no one says anything about it!"

"What is going on here?" Mystic said as she saunter from the shadows.

"Enigma here is getting cold feet," Pyro said accusingly.

"If the whole building goes up in flames more people than necessary will die," Eli tried to explain. Mystic glared at the two of them.

"Enigma is right in a sense," the blue woman sided with her. "But we can't take any chances of him escaping. Burn the building to the ground. Eli frowned and stormed off, as she heard people start to scream from within the building.

Eli opened her eyes, and could see Loki gazing at her face. He was incredibly handsome. His eyes were surprisingly soft, and he seemed to be in deep thought. When he finally noticed that Eli was awake, he turned away. Eli tried to lift her head, but dizziness forced her to put her head back down. It was only minutes before she fell back to sleep.

Eli was sitting in an antique chair in front of Professor Xavier and Storm. Their eyes were warm and absent of any judgment. That didn't stop Eli from feeling guilty about her deeds. She had just turned thirteen and she was already responsible for the deaths of many innocent people. These people understood Eli, and that was the important thing. Eli felt like she might have actually found a home.

Hank McCoy entered the room. Eli admired his blue skin and fur. He caught her staring and he smiled. "I wish I was blue…" Eli mumbled, and Hank laughed, because he heard what she said.

"Now, Enigma," Hank started when he sat down in the chair next to hers. "The government appreciates your cooperation, and is willing to pardon all of your charges if you give them the all the names and locations having to deal with the Brotherhood of Mutants."

Eli nodded. "I know only a few people, Magneto would never let me around a lot of people. He never fully trusted me. He said I sympathized with homo sapiens to much. I was only ever allowed in the hideout in Florida." Eli explained. "The only one that really did trust me was Mystic, but I'm sure even that has changed now…"

"The government would also like to know your given name," Hank said cautiously.

"You mean the name my parents gave me?" Eli asked and Hank nodded. "My full name is Kornelia Smith. My parents are dead. They died in a car crash. I was the only survivor."

"I'll tell them, and they will see if you have any surviving family," Hank said kindly. Professor Xavier smiled as well. Everyone in the room seemed to sympathize with Eli. She wasn't sure if she deserved their sympathy. She was the reason so many people died. She told herself then that she would never let anyone die because of her ever again.

The dream shifted, and Eli was sitting on the bed that was given to her when she arrived at the mansion. She had her own room too because the other children were afraid to go near her. It made her angry at first, but then she realized that she deserved their mistrust.

Two women entered her room. Both of them had red hair. Eli's eyes widened. The two women looked almost exactly like her mother. The one that was older seemed wary of Eli, but the younger had a bright smile on her face.

"Hi, Kornelia," the younger said with a wave. Eli waved back nervously. The older woman smiled a little smile. For the first time since her parents died, Eli felt hope.

The dream shifted again and Eli was standing before a haggard looking man. His eyes were wide with fear. Tears were running down Eli's eyes. This was the man that had ruined her life. This was the man that caused her to walk down the path that lead to death and destruction. All Eli had to do was will him to die and he would.

"You won't do it Eli," a voice said from behind her, making her jump. When she didn't answer the voice said, "You lack the conviction to be a killer."

Eli woke up, this time truly awake. Tears were running down her face, and she wiped them away. It was then when she noticed that she was in her room. The walls were still white, and her mini-holographic projector was in the spot where she had left it. Her soft comforter soothed her skin. Her red heels were at the side of the bed where someone had neatly put them there.

Eli got up, and headed for the door. She made sure to be as quiet as possible, as she went to the main room. It was very quiet in the Tower. Eli checked every room for Loki and any other sign of people. She was all alone. Then, Eli went to the mini-bar that was in the living room to inspect one of Jarvis' many control panels. The screen was shut off.

She gingerly touched the screen to see if anything would happen. Nothing did, so Eli tried a voice command. Still nothing. Eli went back to her room, and found one of her watches that had Jarvette programmed into it.

"Jarvette, start working on rebooting Jarvis, and do it as discreetly as possible." Eli said in a whisper. Eli left her room again and really tired to listen for voices. She cautiously went to the staircase, she was too afraid to use the elevator, because of the noise it would make. Eli opened the door, it made a slight creak, and listened for people.

"Put it over there!" a voice said. Eli shut the door and headed the Ironman suit's platform. She could see people shuffling around the roof of the building. Quickly, Eli made her way back to the staircase. Quietly, Eli made her way up them. At the next landing was a fire extinguisher. Eli carefully took it from the wall.

At the final landing, Eli pulled the safety ring, and opened the door slowly. There were two guards standing there and Dr. Selvig was at a machine on the center of the roof calling out orders to two more guards. Stealthily, Eli walked up to the first guard and hit him in the back of the head with the extinguisher. Just as the second guard was turning Eli grabbed the stun gun from the first guards belt and fired it at the second. Electrical wires shot out, and hit him in the face, stunning the man. He fell to the ground in spasms.

Eli ran up to one of the guards that was holding something for Dr, Selvig, and swept kicked his feet from under him. The heavy piece of machinery fell on top of him, most likely breaking a few of his ribs. The last guard seemed like he was unsure as to what to do, and Dr. Selvig backed away from Eli.

Eli pointed the nozzle of the fire extinguisher at the final guard and squeezed the levers together dousing the man in monoammonium phosphate. As the man tried to get the piece of machinery out of the extinguishers path he fell, and Eli threw the extinguisher at him and then kicked in the ribs for good measure.

Eli then turned her attentions onto Dr. Selvig. His eyes were shining with an unusual blue. That must have been the spell that Natasha was talking about. Eli threateningly approached the doctor. Just as she was within a few feet of him. A hand fell on her shoulder. Eli immediately spun around ready to punch whoever was behind her. Her fist, however, landed in a hand much larger than her own.

Loki was holding her hand in his, and there was amusement in his eyes. "You recover quickly." His hand let go of her fist and brushed against the left side of her face. His brows furrowed for a moment and smoothed back out. "Come, we should let the good doctor do his work."

Eli looked down and then turned to advance on Dr. Selvig again. That time Loki caught her by the arm and said, "Do not make me hit you again." With a frown, Eli turned back to Loki and looked him in the eyes. He really didn't want to hit her again. Loki motioned for the door and she went to it. Loki kept a hand on her lower back as they walked together back to the living area.

On the bar, Eli noticed the invitation to her recital. It was the one that was meant for Tony and Pepper. Eli closed her eyes as Loki lead her to the center of the room. He looked out the wall of glass windows. Triumph was in his every expression and motion.

"Do you still think your heroes will win?" Loki was looking at Eli now. The small girl thought for a moment.

"Of course they'll win. I wouldn't have had made that bet if I didn't think I was going to win." Eli said smiling. "Beside, I'm not the kind that plays by the rules all of the time. I have been known to bend or even break the rules. For example, Jarvette, shut down the Arc Reactor." Loki laughed when nothing happened. Eli's wrist was zapped three times, meaning that Jarvis was still out of service.

"Your Tower's security has been _shut down_ for some time now. There is no stopping me now." Loki moved closer to Eli. His eyes glowed with want and desire. "Soon enough, I will be your king." There was a promise in his words, and Eli heard it loud and clear. Her body shivered and she took a small step towards him.

"If I still had my powers," Eli said with hooded lids, her eyes glanced at his lips and then up to his eyes. "I would be with my heroes trying to stop you."

Infuriated Loki walked away from Eli, debating on whether or not he should use his scepter on her. Eli pursued him, her anger was rising with every step she took. "I don't know why you brought me here, but when you fail, and you will, I will be there to rub it in your face." Loki looked at her, murder in his eyes. "After all I have the best seat in the house."

"I just hope they let me go to your executio-" Loki's strong hand wrapped itself around Eli's throat for a second time. The skin where he was touching her was starting to freeze. Even the tissue on the inside of her throat was beginning to ice over. Eli looked up at Loki. Eli saw flickers of hurt in his eyes, that were ground out by rage and hatred. Loki suddenly let go of Eli and she fell to the ground. Logan's mutant abilities started to heal her as she struggled for breath.

As she lay there gasping, she didn't notice that Loki had left the room. She only realized he had left when she heard tearing fabric. Eli looked up to see that he had gone to her room and took her flat sheet, and was now ripping it to shreds. He then grabbed one of her arms and dragged her to the balcony. Eli was still trying to catch her breath and was helpless to his will.

Loki shoved her against the wall furthest from the landing pad, tied her hands together and lifted them above her head. With the long left over fabric, he froze it to the wall a few feet above her head. Eli was finally able to speak again.

"Let. Me. Go." she rasped out. Loki took another piece of fabric and tied around Eli's mouth so she couldn't speak. Satisfied Loki walked away from her, and then quickly came back.

"You will stand there and watch me succeed!" he growled out at her. The two of them glared at each other. After a moment Loki began to talk again. "I want you to see me succeed, and when I do, I want you to come to me willingly.

"I don't know what is going on, but from the moment you first touched me, when you first spoke to me I wanted nothing more than to ravage you. I told myself that I would not be weak like Thor. I told myself that I would kill you if we ever met again." Loki glared at Eli, who had stopped struggling all together at Loki's admission.

"And yet, every time I had the chance to kill you, something would get in the way, whether it was someone else or even myself." Loki walked up to Eli and caressed the left side of her face, which was now an ugly yellow color. "I don't know why but I want you by my side…" Loki brushed his lips against Eli's. "I want you begging me…" Eli shivered with delight when Loki's tongue slid across her lips.

Eli could hear the sound of the Ironman suit zooming through the sky. Eli looked up to see Tony fly up to the roof of the building. "But something always gets in the way." Loki growled and walked away from Eli.

Tony flew down toward the landing pad without seeing Eli. Eli was glad that she hadn't seen him, because she was sure that she would have begged Tony not to hurt Loki. Eli understood where Loki was coming from. Her hands had tingled when she pulled him from the path of the car. Her stomach flipped each and every time he looked at her. God, Tony was right, she should have just left the museum when she had the chance. There was no denying that she was attracted to him. Hell, she was ready to have sex with him in his holding cell.

Even the kiss he had just given her made her entire body burn. Eli took a deep breath and focused on the situation on hand. Eli pulled on her restraints. She pulled on them hard, but they didn't budge. The ice kept the cloth from breaking. Eli huffed, and tried to listen into whatever was going on between Loki and Tony.

After she couldn't hear what was going on, she tried get the gag out of her mouth. That endeavor failed as well. Eli thought through the possible ways to get out the binds. As something came to mind, Tony was suddenly thrown through all of the windows. Eli screamed out. He didn't have his suit on. He was falling from the top floor of the tower there was no way he would survive.

Muffled screams of Tony's name left Eli. She pulled as hard as she could from the bindings, but they would not break. Eli had lost another close friend, and the last conversation she had with this one was an argument. Tears began to well in Eli's eyes. Suddenly, the red and gold jukebox exploded out of the windows. It started transforming into the Ironman suit. Moments later, Tony flew up fully intact and inside of the Ironman suit. Tears of joy fell from blue eyes.

"And there's on other person you pissed off," Tony said inside his armor. "His name was Phil."

Eli forced her tears of joy to stop; knowing that at this point there was nothing that they could do. Tony fired off one of his repulsors, and Eli tried screaming out to get his attention. However, the Tesseract activated and drowned out Eli's voice. Tony turned his attention to the portal, leaving Eli strapped to the wall.


	11. Chapter 11

Warnings: References to Violence

Chapter 11

Dozens of armed warriors came into view as Eli craned her neck to see what was happening. Tony fired repulsors at several of them, but the beings just kept coming. Eli could see the invaders fan out and away from Stark Tower. Eli thought they were ugly things. Their skin was a grayish brown, and from what she could see of them were bipedal. Eli tried to stop herself from thinking that it would be fascinating to dissect on of them.

Eli could hear pedestrians scream and cry out as the army of Chitauri opened fire on them. The small girl grasped the fabric around her wrists and lifted her legs above her so that she was doing a mid-air hand stand. Eli then let her body fall back down to it's original position in the hopes that the fabric would break. All that happened was the skin on her wrists became burned.

Eli could see Loki walk out onto the Ironman landing pad, as his helmet and more regal armor appeared on his body. Loki looked out onto the carnage he had created, but from her position she couldn't get a good look at him. What she could hear was Thor landing on the penthouse balcony, yelling, "Loki!"

"Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it," he threatened. Eli knew that it was futile though.

"You can't," Loki yelled out. Eli tried again to renew her efforts at being heard. "There is no stopping it. There is only the war."

Eli couldn't hear if Thor answered back, but she could hear the ensuing battle between the once were brothers. Metal clanked against metal, as Loki yelled out. Eli heard the tell tale sound of the scepter charging and discharging. It hit something and there was a loud noise of something crashing against the ground. Eli could almost see what it was.

Out on the horizon, Eli could see the Quinjet fly in. Tony was swooping around the Tower. Eli heard glass breaking as the Quinjet flew so close to the building where she was that she swore that one of them saw her. She was wrong, as the jet started shooting at the battling Loki and Thor. Eli heard the scepter charge, and screamed as a beam hit the Quinjet's port side wing. The jet spiraled down to the ground.

Tony flew by again shooting down a couple of the invaders. Eli slammed her head against the wall in frustration. No one had seen her yet. She could be out there helping them fight. Eli froze when she realized she didn't know who she would be helping exactly. Eli hardened her heart, and told herself that she would never betray Tony like that. Eli angrily thought that Jarvis and Jarvette would never let her stand out on the ledge.

Eli bashed her head against the wall in her own stupidity. Her watch had Jarvette programmed into it. Eli tried to twist her fingers around so that she could get to her watch. Eli was able to get two of her fingers to slip into the binding, but found that her watch was missing. With a groan, the tied up girl realized that Loki probably took it off of her before he dragged her out to the balcony.

Suddenly, a goliath of an opponent that looked like a bug with fins came into sight. Eli's eyes were wide. She had never seen something like that. Eli wasn't sure if any creature on the planet was ever that size. Tony was able to get the creatures attention, but he seemed powerless to stop it.

Out of the corner of her eye, Eli saw Loki fly away on one of the sleds that the Chitauri were flying. Eli tried screaming out to Thor, but he didn't seem to hear her. Eli was shouting out curses at everyone one of the Avengers in her head for not seeing her. She better have been invisible to all of them or they were going to get a mouthful later.

Smoke from the explosions rose into the air. Eli sat helplessly against the wall. She would hate herself after this. There she was tied up like a damsel in distress, when some of her closest friends were risking their lives to save their world. Just a year ago, she would have been out there with them, fighting side by side with them. If she hadn't stayed at the museum, she would probably be out there helping them.

Thor flew away from Stark Tower and to the ground, where she assumed the rest of the Avengers were. Eli could see explosions and hear screams even from her location above all the carnage. Eli could only imagine how difficult it is down there for them. There was only a hand full of them, and an entire army of aliens. Eli shook her head, those where good odds for her friends.

Tony rounded a building with the bug thing following after him. Suddenly, the goliath let out a cry, and Eli could hear metal break and shatter. Stark Tower shook the force of an explosion. The surrounding Chitauri let out a cry. But their battle cry was overshadowed by the calling card of the Hulk. A roar louder than any other resounded throughout the area. Eli let out a sigh of relief and began working on getting out of the gag.

More goliaths come into Eli's view, and she realized that there was no way her friends could keep fighting all of the aliens that kept pouring out of the portal. Eli say a blur of green as the Hulk smashed and destroyed both Chitauri and buildings. Thor's lightening was directed above Stark Tower. Eli assumed that it was to prevent the enemy from getting through.

Stark was circling around destroying any enemies that he came across. Eli watched as the Hulk to down one of the goliaths by himself, and yet even more Chitauri invaded through the portal.

Eli could see the teamwork between her heroes. She was proud to see them like that, and was ashamed of herself for loosing faith with them. Eli could see more of Thor's lightening. Eli now almost had her gag off. It was just about off.

When Eli finally got the gag off, Eli could see that the sled Loki was on was firing at another Chitauri sled. Eli strained her eyes to see what was going on, and she could just barely see flashing red hair. Natasha had found her way onto one of the sleds. Loki was closing in on her. Just as Loki was about to catch up to Natasha, Loki's jet exploded, sending the sled into the side of he building. Loki landed on the balcony. Eli couldn't see what was going on, but she heard Natasha crash to the roof of the building.

The Hulk then came roaring toward Loki. There was a quietness for a moment, and then Eli could hear tile being crushed and then more silence. Eli could see the giant green man walk out of the building. Just as he was about to jump away, Eli yelled out.

"Hulk!" the Hulk turned and snarled at her, but he stopped in what looked like confusion. Eli shrugged her shoulders and said, "A little help, please." The Hulk stomped toward Eli and punched the ice that held her to the wall. The two of them stood there for a moment in awkward silence.

"Well," Eli finally said, "go get them." The Hulk smirked and jumped away with a roar. Eli stepped away from the wall and looked out to the city. Buildings were on fire and there were battles going on everywhere. Eli looked on somberly.

"Eli!" a voice called from the roof. Eli looked up to see Natasha and Dr. Selvig.

"Natasha!" Eli called back.

"The scepter," Natasha yelled down, "we need it to shut down the Tesseract. Can you throw it up here?"

Eli looked at the weapon that killed Phil, and walked towards it, making sure not to look into the penthouse. When she reached it, she used the blade to cut the fabric around her wrists. Eli held the scepter in her right hand and tested the weight. Eli looked up at Natasha, determined to help her heroes, to help her friends.

"Stand back," Eli yelled out. Despite the fact that her arms were tired and numb from being held above her head, Eli was able to throw the scepter like a spear. It flew just above Natasha's head and landed with a resounding thunk behind the Russian.

With a deep breath, Eli turned toward the penthouse and walked in. Loki was lying in what used to be the floor. He was easily six inches into the floor. If the Hulk had tried a little harder, then Loki would have been on the floor beneath them. Loki's eyes didn't stop staring above him, even as Eli walked up to him. Eli herself felt her body seize when she saw Loki helpless on the floor. Her breathing had all but stopped, and she almost fell to her knees when she saw him. Eli walked past Loki and sat on the stairs that were beside him.

"I felt it too," Eli said, her voice just above a whisper. "I was so angry with Tony, that I didn't notice it before, but I realize it now. I want you to succeed. I want to stand next to you as you rule my world. I want to beg for you until I'm a puddle of bliss, but…

"But I know what it's like to not have something you want. Something you truly want, not just a passing fancy. It's like a hole in your chest that eats away at you until you are nothing but a shell. Right now, I want nothing more than to tell you that I love you.

"But I will never love you. I will never allow myself to give in to it. And that will be your punishment for hurting me. For taking people I love away from me."

Eli was going to continue but the sound of the Ironman suit approaching the building stopped her. Eli rushed to the balcony in time to see Tony directing a nuclear missile toward the portal.

"TONY!" Eli screamed as he passed through the portal. Disappearing with the missile.


	12. Chapter 12

No Warnings

Chapter 12

"TONY!" Eli screamed as her friend disappeared into the portal. "TONY!"

"The only one you should care about is me!" Loki yelled at the brunette. Angrily, Eli locked her blue eyes onto the fallen god.

"I could never care or love someone that didn't take my life or feelings into consideration!" Eli yelled back. "I could never love you!"

There was a poignant silence. Eli told herself that she would wait for Tony, but when she looked back to Loki her resolve broke. Eli walked back to Loki and knelt by his side. She pushed her hair to the side, and kissed him. It was sweet and tender. It lingered for only moments. "That's probably the last nice thing that will ever happen to you now…" Eli whispered.

Eli then returned to her spot on the balcony and watched for Tony. There was still no sign of him. Pepper entered her mind, and tears began to fall down Eli's cheeks. The little brunette felt like such a Mary Sue, with all of the crying she had done. It was just like the time when Tony went missing for six months. Pepper was going to be heart broken, and all Eli had done for the past three days was fight with Tony. Eli's knees buckled and sobbed when she saw the portal close with no sign of Tony.

Large tears fell from Eli's eyes when Tony reappeared through the portal, but Eli's horror wasn't over. Tony looked completely unresponsive and he wasn't slowing down. Eli watched on her hands and knees as Tony plummeted to the Earth in what seemed like slow motion.

Eli jumped when the Hulk sped like a bullet toward Tony, catching him and breaking his fall. Eli laughed out sobs.

"Natasha!" Eli yelled up to her friend. "Natasha! Is he alright? Is Tony okay?"

Natasha's head popped out over the ledge with her hand to her ear and was silent for several moments. There was a sudden roar from the Hulk, and Natasha spoke, "Don't worry, Eli," Natasha smiled. "Tony's okay." Bruce Banner had just became Eli's favorite person. "I'll be down in a moment, don't move."

Eli looked back at Loki, and forced herself to look away. She wiped the tears from her eyes and walked to the landing pad. Carefully, Eli sat on the ledge as the rest of her heroes made their way up to the building.

Thor was carrying Steve and Tony was carrying Clint when they flew up to Stark Tower. The Hulk jumped up into the building like he had before. Tony was the only one that hesitated before entering the building.

After a while, Eli heard the Ironman suit walk towards her. She looked up as Tony sat down next to her. There was no judgment in Tony's eyes, but there was a questioning look in them. Eli knew that Tony knew what happened between her and Loki.

"So…" Tony started awkwardly. Eli laughed.

"I'm glad your safe," Eli started, "but that doesn't mean I'm going to apologize." Tony laughed next to her.

"Let's just agree that Pepper was right," Tony shook his head with mirth. Eli nodded in agreement. "Do you love him?"

Eli was surprised by Tony's forwardness. "It's complicated. I want to forgive him for everything he's done, but I can't. Because there are other people I love more in the world. It's funny, because if you had asked me that three days ago, I would have told you it's impossible to fall in love with someone that fast, but I would have been wrong…

"Tony, it was like something was making me fall-" Eli stopped. "It doesn't matter. All that matters now is the future and moving on."

"How are you going to go on about that?" Tony asked looking at his fiancée's adoptive daughter.

"Well, for starters, I'm going to invite all of the Avengers to my recital." Tony laughed at Eli.

"Even me?"

"Even you, Tony," Eli kissed Tony on the cheek before carefully getting up from the ledge. She walked back into the penthouse, and approached the just changed Bruce Banner, who was pulling his belt tighter. Eli hugged him and whispered, "Thank you," in his ear. Eli avoided looking at Loki at all costs as she hugged each of the Avengers.

Eli headed to the kitchen, where she started eating an apple while looking for something more to eat. She was starving. Clint walked into the kitchen. He looked tired. Being under a magical spell must have sucked.

"You look like shit," Eli said tossing her apple to him. He took a gracious bite before tossing it back.

"Thanks," he said sarcastically. "You should go to the schwarma shop with everyone."

"Someone has to stay and watch Loki," Eli stated the obvious. "You had to fight an army, and I was a damsel in distress. By the way, how in the living hell did you not see me? I was standing strapped to a wall fifteen feet away from _gods_ battling it out on the balcony!"

"Whoa, there psycho," Clint held his hands up, "we were in the heat of battle, and besides, you were eventually rescued. And, I'm going to watch Loki as the others go out. I offered to make up for…"

"Clint, let me do this," Eli said softly. "You need a break from him. I'm sure there are S.H.I.E.L.D agents on there way as we speak. I won't be alone with him for long. Not only that both Jarvis and Jarvette will be watching if anything happens. I'll be fine. You go get some food in your system."

It took Eli another five minutes to get Clint to go with the other Avengers, and it took even longer for her to get all of them to leave her alone with the would be king. In the end, she had to threaten them with "psycho" mutant powers. Mutant abilities she knew she had no strength to muster.

Eli leaned against the far wall as Loki sat on the stairs. It had been nearly ten minutes, and all they had done was stare at each other. Eli wished she could use her mutant abilities to see into his mind. He couldn't speak, because he was muzzled.

"If we had met differently, or before all of this," Eli motioned around her, "I would have helped you. I would probably have helped you now, and took you somewhere where you could rest without anyone finding you. I would nurse you back to health, and when you were ready to strike back…I would have helped you win the Earth."

Eli smiled somberly, before looking down. She was forcing tears away. "If you hadn't killed Phil, I _would_ be helping you right now. You have a lot of power over me."

The brunette turned away and walked toward the balcony and turned on him. "Loki," she whispered his name, Loki's eyes widened as she said it. It was the first time she had said it since they had met. "You've changed my life so much. I'm not entirely sure if it's for the better."

Eli stared at Loki until his shoulders made a sighing a sighing movement. He then lifted his cuffed hands and motioned her to come to him. She went to him immediately. Eli sat down next to the man that she refused to love. A notion that she knew was impossible.

Loki pulled his green cape from his shoulders and gave it to Eli. The brunette held it close to her chest. There was something important in him giving it to her, she just knew it. Eli leaned into Loki, and kissed him over his mask. It would be her parting gift to him.

Eli could hear the sounds of jets arriving at Stark Tower, so she quickly moved to hid the green cape in her room. Eli shut her bedroom door with a click as Nick Fury and Maria Hill walked into the penthouse.

"Everyone went to eat shawarma," Eli said. "Whatever that is. They'll be back soon, if you want me to get you anything." Fury looked between Eli and Loki. He shook his head. Maria stood confused for a moment, but then shook it off.

"Where have you been?" Maria asked.

"Tied to a wall," Eli said simply. "Your team failed to notice. I've been standing out there all day." Eli motioned to her black dress. It was weathered and torn even worse than when she left the Helicarrier, and there was no fixing her tights. "I do believe compensation is in order."

Fury stared at her blankly. "You are relieved of your duty. Go take a nap or something."

"As much as I love sleep, I was thinking of a something a little more promotion…or demotion based. Depending on how you look at it."

"Hill, would you put in Miss Kornelia Potts into books as someone who should be _considered_ to be a suitable candidate to be a pathologist for the Chitauri." Fury said with a frown. Eli didn't take it to hard. Fury was always frowning.

"Yes, sir," Maria said, and then walked off.

"We are going to have a nice, long talk before you are even considered," Fury said. "I hope you know that."

Eli nodded and waved as she went back to the kitchen. She sat in there until her heroes came back. When they did, she went back into the living area. She had already missed a lot of the conversation. Fury was being surprisingly cooperative, given that he wasn't calling the shots.

"Then, it's settled," Fury finalized. "Thor, you will take Loki, and the Tesseract with you back to Asgard." Everyone nodded. Eli made sure not to say anything stupid. "After that, I don't care what you do as long as you stay out of trouble." Fury looked directly at Eli; she almost stuck her tongue out at him.

"If it's all the same to everyone," Eli said with a smile, "I call the shower first."

There was a void in Eli as she showered. It was growing with every passing moment. It was like it was consuming her, and at a rate that was worrying. Mechanically, Eli dressed in her custom black skinny jeans and blue blouse, and slipped on a pair of black Converse. The next thing Eli knew, she was staring Loki in the eyes and blue light consumed the two Asgardians and they were gone. Eli's brown hair blew back from the after shock of their departure.

Eli hugged Bruce again, before he and Tony drove off, probably back to the Tower. Tony was thinking of letting Bruce live with them if he wanted to. Eli then waved at the rest of the Avengers as they left. Eli only lingered for a few more seconds, before she too left the area.

"Jarvette," Eli spoke aloud.

"Yes, Miss," Jarvette's voice said from Eli's silver watch.

"What do you think of pirates?" Eli said with a grin. "I've heard some very interesting things about them."

"What are you looking for particularly, Miss?"

"For now," Eli smiled wider, "I want you compiling all pirate folklore, and compare it to the mythologies and folklore of other cultures. If the Vikings were right about Odin being real, can you imagine some of the pirating artifacts out there. Simply amazing.

"Oh, but first, would you play the piece that I have to play at my recital. As a refresher of course."

A somber tune began to play, and as it crescendoed the tone of the music changed to something that inspired hope in Eli. She wasn't sure what that hope was, but Eli would hold onto it for as long as possible.


End file.
